Systems and methods for conveying utility operator data

ABSTRACT

An apparatus comprising a message outputting device, an FM radio receiver, where the FM radio receiver is configured to obtain utility operator data provided by an FM subcarrier channel, and a processor in electrical communication with the FM radio receiver and the message outputting device is provided. The processor is configured to process the utility operator data and communicate a message in the utility operator data via the message outputting device. In some instances, the apparatus further comprises an input interface in electrical communication with the processor for receiving instructions from a user on whether to alter usage of the apparatus after the message in the utility operator data has been displayed via the message outputting device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/476,967 filed on May 21, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,665,111, which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/885,928 filed on Sep. 7,2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,183,995, which is a national phase applicationof PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/008705 filed on Mar. 8, 2006, whichclaims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 60/659,455, filed on Mar.8, 2005 and U.S. Patent Application No. 60/679,439, filed on May 9,2005, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

1. FIELD

The present disclosure concerns methods of energy management. Moreparticularly, the disclosure pertains to systems and methods to managepower grid peak energy load on the basis of tariff informationoriginating either directly or indirectly from a utility company orutility related company such as an energy marketer, load distributor, orindependent market operator.

2. BACKGROUND

Energy generation, distribution, and/or consumption systems(“energy-related systems”) are complex. Such systems typically involve amultiplicity of energy producers and energy consumers tied together byway of a complex web of energy distribution channels or energytransporters. The complexity of such systems is further increased whenone considers that many, if not all, energy producers themselves arecomplex systems that convert non-electrical energy resources such asfossil fuel, nuclear, wind power, or solar energy resources into, forexample, electrical energy, and that require additional resources suchas chilled water for their operation. That is, the complexity ofenergy-related systems is further increased if one considers the scopeof such systems to include the relationships between energy producersand upstream energy production enablers that make it possible for thoseenergy producers to operate.

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2.1 Peak Demand Periods and Load Shedding

A problem confronting this industry today is the great variance in totalenergy demand on a network between peak and off-peak times during theday. This is particularly the case in the electrical utility industry.The so-called peak demand periods or load shedding intervals are periodsof very high demand on the power generating equipment where loadshedding can be necessary to maintain proper service to the network.These occur, for example, during hot summer days occasioned by thewidespread simultaneous usage of electric air conditioning devices.Typically the load shedding interval may last many hours and normallyoccurs during the hottest part of the day such as between the hours ofnoon and 6:00 p.m. Peaks can also occur during the coldest winter monthsin areas where the usage of electrical heating equipment is prevalent.In fact, power requirements can vary not only due to variations in theenergy needs of energy consumers that are attempting to accomplishintended goals, but also due to environmental regulations and marketforces pertaining to the price of electrical energy. In the past, inorder to accommodate the very high peak demands, the industry has beenforced to spend tremendous amounts of money either in investing inadditional power generating capacity and equipment or in buyingso-called “peak” power from other utilities which have made suchinvestments.

To meet fluctuating energy demands, energy producers can eitherindividually adjust the energy that they are producing and outputtingand/or operate in cooperation with one another to collectively adjusttheir output energy. However, energy consumption is far from the onlyoperational aspect of energy-related systems that can necessitate rapid,reliable and accurate changes to system operation. Indeed, energyproducers often experience fluctuations in terms of their intrinsicabilities to generate and output power of various levels and othercharacteristics. For example, under certain circumstances it can becomenecessary for a given energy producer to shut down for testing ormaintenance, or to avoid cascading failures. Also, for example, incircumstances where multiple energy producers operate together togenerate and output power (e.g., to a common power grid), and to theextent that a given energy producer finds it necessary to adjust itsenergy output, it can become necessary for others of the energyproducers to modify their own energy output to account for the changesin the given energy producer's output. As in the case of energyconsumers, environmental regulations and market forces pertaining to theprice of electrical energy can impact the operation of energy producersas well.

Additionally, the operation of energy producers often is highlydependent upon the operation of energy production enablers that supplyresources to the energy producers allowing those producers to operate.Yet the operation of the energy production enablers also is susceptibleto fluctuation for a variety of reasons including, again, environmentalregulations and market forces. For example, the availability and/orprice of certain raw materials that are supplied by energy productionenablers to energy producers, such as oil, coal or natural gas, can varysignificantly.

Also, the capabilities of energy transporters to reliably andefficiently transport energy from energy producers to energy consumerscan vary for numerous reasons. For example, storms and otherweather-related conditions can occasionally disable or disrupt theoperation of power lines that are transmitting electrical energy. Insome circumstances, the particular arrangement of energy transporterscan also necessitate changes in the operation of those energytransporters.

Given these various levels of complexity inherent in the operations ofenergy-related systems, and given the importance of operating suchsystems in an efficient and reliable manner, such systems deservecareful control and monitoring. Yet conventional energy-related systemsare often limited in this regard, particularly in terms of controllingand coordinating the interdependent operations of different energyconsumers, energy producers, energy production enablers and energytransporters. In particular, central control systems for allowingsystem-wide control of energy-related systems have typically beenimpractical to implement for several reasons, particularly thedifficulty and expense associated with designing control programs forsuch complicated systems.

Consequently, in conventional implementations, the various components ofelectrical energy-related systems such as energy consumers, producers,production enablers and transporters are typically controlled andoperated independently of one another such that there is no overallcontrol for the system as a whole, and any coordination of the differentsystem components merely occurs in a reactive manner.

In one approach designed to alleviate the aforementioned difficulties,electric utility companies have turned to load shedding as a means ofresponding to the fluctuating energy demand. This practice has led tothe use of the term “load shedding interval” to define the period inwhich the network load is controlled. It is desirable that a loadshedding device limit power demand uniformly over the entire loadshedding interval because the actual peak of power demand on the totalutility grid could occur at any time during the load shedding interval.

In the known art, several basic strategies and devices have beenutilized for load shedding in order to limit the peak power demand onthe power generating capacity of electric utility companies. One suchmode involves sending signals either over the power lines or byutilizing a radio-type signal emanating from the utility to disconnector interrupt the use of certain selected electric loads such as airconditioning compressors when the demand has reached a certain point.While this type of direct control of power consumption by the utilityachieves usage cutbacks during peak periods that prevent the powernetwork from becoming overloaded, in many cases, the great inconvenienceto the user who may find his power disconnected for an inordinately longtime may well outweigh the benefits of the load shedding.

An alternate method of control employed by utility companies to reducepeak power consumption on given networks involves the concept of dutycycling. This involves a time sharing over the network of certainamounts of the power during peak periods such that service isinterrupted to selected devices on a time sharing basis. Thus, forexample, on a ten minute per one-half hour duty cycle, all of thedevices for which service is to be interrupt have their serviceinterrupted ten minutes out of each one-half hour on a rotating basiswhich each ten minutes involving one-third of the device population.While this method of duty cycling does accomplish some load shedding, ithas several disadvantages.

First, fixed-period duty cycling tends to destroy “natural diversity.”Natural diversity can be illustrated in terms of many machines suppliedby a common power network. A large group of air conditioning or heatingmachines that continually cycle ON and OFF to maintain comfortconditions in corresponding spaces have a natural tendency to operatesuch that the cycling pattern of each machine is in random phase withthe cycling pattern of all other such machines in the power network. Inthis fashion, there is but a random likelihood that all of the airconditioning compressors or heating machines will be operating at thesame instant. The tendency for this random operation is then callednatural diversity. Any load shedding strategy that tends to synchronizethe running periods of all the compressors or heaters in the utilityservice network reduces natural diversity. Synchronization causessignificant spikes in power demand during the ON cycle of these devicesand negates much of the benefits of the load shedding. If the devices tobe interrupted are electric air conditioning and cooling units, forexample, the chances are that all such units whose power supply has beeninterrupted will be calling for power at the end of the OFF cycle suchthat a spike in power demand will occur upon switching of theinterrupted units at the end of each cycle.

Also, this method of load shedding may be defeated or overcome by thecustomer by the installation of an oversized air conditioning or heatingunit such that it may maintain the temperature of the environmentutilizing only that portion of time allotted to it. The net effect, ofcourse, is that no real power is shed.

The general problems associated with all such load shedding methods anddevices is that, while they may accomplish a certain amount of loadshedding which benefits the electric utility, they largely ignore a veryimportant factor, the impact of one or more modes of interruptedservices on the customer or user. Abrupt or large changes in theenvironmental temperature of a conditional space are very undesirablefrom the standpoint of the customer.

Other prior art methods of load shedding include the timed resetting ofthermostats to a higher setting in the summer during theair-conditioning season and to a lower set point during the heatingseason for a specified period or number of hours during the peak demandpart of the day. This step change can result in a significant energysavings over a long period, but yields only a relatively small powerreduction at the peak load time. Moreover, such a method does not allowusers to make informed decisions regarding temperature settings orenergy usage based on current energy prices.

2.2 Known Systems for Residential Load Shedding

In addition to general load shedding techniques such as those describedabove, a number of systems and methods for managing the aforementionedproblems associated with fluctuating energy supply and demand have beendescribed in various United States patents and publications. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,786 to Hedges teaches a datacasting system,including residential load controllers (RLCs), that enforcesutility-generated demand limits on residential circuits. However, thedatacasting system taught by Hedges is unsatisfactory because utilitycustomers resist utility imposed limits on residential energy usage.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,162 to Hammer provides an adjustable thermostat foruse in a home or other type of dwelling. The thermostat interrupts andoverrides the normal thermostat control in a space conditioning systemupon receipt of an external signal, as from a power company, in a mannersuch that the consumed power does not rise above the level thatpersisted just prior to the initialization signal. The adjustablethermostat senses the “natural” or thermostat-controlled cycling patternof a space conditioning system such as an air conditioner just prior tothe start of a load shedding interval. The last cycle is then caused tobecome the reference or control cycle for the load shedding interval.That is, the ON portion of the reference cycle is caused to become themaximum allowable ON interval and the OFF portion of the reference cycleis caused to become the minimum OFF interval for the entire loadshedding interval. In this way the average power consumption ismaintained at a level equal to or below the initial or pre-load sheddingvalue. While functional, the Hammer system has the drawback that itstill requires nonvoluntary cessation of power usage. Furthermore, theHammer system is only useful for electrical space conditioners and notother power consuming household appliances such as dishwashers, hotwater heaters, vacuum cleaners, and the like. Thus, the Hammer systemwill only provide limited relief to an overtaxed utility grid duringperiods of peak usage or during emergency situations in which powerdemand outstrips power supply.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,382 to Faulkner discloses a load management terminalfor an electric utility automated distribution system that includes areceiver for receiving central commands sent from an electric utilitycentral station by power line carrier signals. A control unit isconnected to the receiver for executing the commands such as loadshedding and remote metering. The terminal includes means for generatingdata at the remote site representative of the results of the executedcommands and for storing the status data in a memory device. A videosignal generator converts the status data into a composite video signalthat is supplied to a modulator to produce a standard RF televisionsignal. The terminal is selectively connected to the television receiverof an electric utility customer, whereby the metering and load shedstatus data is displayed on the customer television receiver. Theterminal can also include billing information, such as a change from apeak rate schedule to a shoulder or off-peak rate schedule. As such, inFualkner, the cost of each kilowatt hour of electrical energy can bechanged. However, Faulkner, like Hedges is unsatisfactory at least inpart because the utility manages the demand of the customer.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,956 to Ehlers describes an indoor environmentalcondition control and energy management system that accepts input from auser regarding desired climate control and an energy price information.The system then maintains climate control in view of the energy priceinformation and the users specified climate parameters. However, Ehlersteaches inputting energy rate table information through a userinterface, a smart card reader or a communications link with a serviceprovider. Ehlers does not disclose any datacast or other ubiquitous orcomprehensive transmission means by which tariff data is delivereddirectly to an appliance controller.

United States Patent publication No. 2005/0034023, published Feb. 10,2005 to Maturana et al., describes a control system for anenergy-related system including an energy consumer and an energyproducer. The control system includes a first agent in communicationwith the energy consumer for the purpose of at least one of controllingand monitoring an operation of the first energy consumer, a second agentin communication with the energy producer for the purpose of at leastone of controlling and monitoring an operation of the first energyproducer, and a network at least indirectly coupling the first andsecond agents and allowing for communication therebetween. The first andsecond agents are capable of negotiating with one another in order todetermine an amount of energy to be delivered from the first energyproducer to the first energy consumer. A drawback with Maturana is thatit is expensive to implement and tends to require mandatory curtailmentof energy use by the energy consumer.

As described above, many existing systems force load shedding uponutility customers (e.g., residential and commercial) without regard tothe energy usage preferences and/or of such customers or the specificrequirements of the appliances used by such customers. Furthermore, suchsystems are also unsatisfactory due to the liability associated withsuch forced appliance control. For example, if a freezer controllermalfunctions and spoils food, the customer has historically beencompensated. Few customers want their energy provider forcing them tolive a specific way or changing their appliance operation without theirknowledge. Most customers would like to choose what appliances are usedand when, and even in full knowledge of a high price for energy maycontinue to consume. However, if faced with the choice of the powergoing out, or rolling blackouts, such customers may reduce theirconsumption if the system is effective.

2.3 LAN-Based Systems for Load Shedding

A number of existing and proposed systems deployed on customers'premises are based on a centralized, local area network (LAN) approach,in which there is typically one receiver and one server per utilitycustomer. The receiver captures remotely transmitted utility informationfor processing by an on-premise server. The server subsequently controlslocal sheddable loads interconnected to the server via a local areanetwork. Such systems do provide load shedding at theindividual-customer level. However, such systems suffer from a number ofshortcomings.

A first drawback with LAN-based systems for load shedding is that theirimplementation requires the addition of significant on-premiseinfrastructure. This is because residential and commercial buildings aretypically not equipped with the type of local area network wiringsuitable for such systems. The cost of installing such systems usingdedicated wiring is prohibitive. Such systems can also be installedusing wireless local area and personal area networks such as WiFi (IEEE802.11, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), Bluetooth(IEEE 802.15.1, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), andZigbee (IEEE 802.15.4, hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety). However, access point base stations and transceiver clientsneeded to support such wireless networks tend to be costly and aresusceptible to noise and co-channel interference due to their operationin unlicensed frequency bands. Such systems can also be installed usinglow cost power line based communication systems such as X10 in theUnited States, X20 in Canada, X30 in Europe, X31 in Spain, X32, inFrance, and X40 and X41 in Japan as well as CEBUS (EIA-600 standard,hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). However, suchcommunication systems are subject to inherent reliability problems dueto electromagnetic interference (e.g. TRIAC based light dimmers), signalisolation across power line phases, and adjacent and co-channelinterference from neighbors who use power line control systems thatshare the same low voltage transformer. Higher performance systemsmitigate some of these problems but with increased cost.

A second shortcoming with LAN-based approaches is reliability. Forinstance, a failure on the part of the receiver or server can render theentire system inoperable. In some instances, depending on the type offailure, there is a danger that utility customers and the appliancesused by such customers could be left in a load shed state until thefailure is rectified. This errant load shed state may last minutes,hours, or weeks. In fact, if the affected utility customers are not ableto diagnose the problem as a failure in a LAN-based transmitter, theproblem may persist for even longer periods of time and lead toconsiderable inconvenience and hardship.

A third shortcoming with LAN-based approaches is that many appliancesare not amenable to load shedding schemes that simply disconnect andreconnect AC power at arbitrary times. Refrigerators, for example mustmaintain an average temperature over time in order to preserve productsrequiring cold storage. The duration of an acceptable load shed event,for such a device, would therefore be a function of ambient and internaltemperatures, the amount of food stored, the insulative properties ofthe cabinet, and the frequency and duration of previous load shedevents. Load shedding of such an appliance is therefore best left torefrigerator manufacturers. Such manufacturers can develop intelligentcompressor load shedding system tailored to the refrigerator and itsenvironment.

Finally, for reasons of safety, liability, and product differentiation,OEM and OED vendors are more apt to embrace a load shedding system thatfacilitates autonomous operation.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,881 to Martinson discloses an energy consumptioncontrol system and method for use by a utility company for reducingenergy consumption during peak hours of demand. Martinson utilizes an FMradio sub-carrier to send control codes to utility customer controlloads. The system has a single wireless receiver with an integralserver, a local area interconnect network, and a number of alternatingcurrent (AC) disconnect switches, one per appliance, that are interposedbetween the appliance and the power line. The wireless receiver/serverreceives FM sub-carrier signals, extracts the payload commands generatedby the utility, and signals the AC disconnect switches as appropriateusing the local area network. However, this system has drawbacks. Itdoes not facilitate customer intervention to accommodate lifestyleneeds, it is susceptible to failure due to its centralized architecture,it employs a costly wired local area network layer, and it only usesexternal disconnect switches that are not suitable for many loadsheddable appliances.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,572,438 and 5,696,695 to Ehlers describe a residentialpower monitoring system that receives power pricing information from apower company and monitors load usage using a plurality of sensorsthroughout a dwelling. A general purpose computer, such as an IBMcompatible personal computer, is present in each residence. The generalpurpose computer receives input from the plurality of sensors throughoutthe residence as well as the utility power pricing information. Withthis information, the computer is able to monitor power consumption.While functional, the system has the disadvantage of being expensive toimplement because it requires a networked computer to control andmonitor a number of sensors in a residence.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,430 to Gilbert teaches a control method for reducingenergy consumption during peak hours of demand. The customer premisesystem is comprised of an “Electric Power Manager” (EPM) preferablylinked to an electricity meter capable of relaying tariff schedulesinformation to the EPM, and a LAN directly interconnecting appliancescapable of establishing two-way communication with the EPM. The EPMfunctions as a tariff server capable of broadcasting tariffs that arecurrently in force to appliances as well as answering tariff queriesmade by appliances. Gilbert permits appliances to make operationaldecisions based on current tariffs in force. However, Gilbert has thedrawback that it uses a centralized EPM server. As such, the system isat risk to complete failure at times when the EPM server is notfunctional. Furthermore, Gilbert has the drawback of employing a costlytwo-way local communication network.

In summary, various known systems for residential energy control andload shedding each have one or more of the following disadvantages:being overly complex, expensive, unreliable, inflexible, or ineffective.Given the above background, there remains a need for a cost effectivereliable approach to notifying utility customers of current power supplyavailability and cost, so that informed decisions on power usage can bemade.

3. SUMMARY

The present disclosure addresses the shortcomings found in the priorart. The present disclosure provides energy management and load sheddingsystems that have comprehensive transmitter coverage and a decentralizedreceiver architecture that allows customers to make informed choiceswith regard to energy consumption and load shedding for particularappliances.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an inexpensive homedashboard device. Such devices are so inexpensive that new ones can bepurchased when a customer moves to a new energy suppliers' area. Thedashboard uses easy to understand symbols to convey information aboutcurrent power supply and cost. In some embodiments, the dashboardincludes text messaging capabilities to convey such information. Energyconsumers can use the dashboard to voluntarily modify their energyconsumption behavior based on the information provided by the dashboard.

The dashboard features a wireless utility message channel (UMC) servicein the form of datacasting. Such datacasting is conveyed from utilitycompanies or energy distributors, for example using a wide-area wirelesscommunication system. Exemplary wide-area wireless communication systemsemployed within embodiments of the present disclosure include, but arenot limited to: analog cellular (e.g., TIA 464B dual-tonemulti-frequency, analog modem), digital cellular such as cellulardigital packet data (CDPD), general packet radio services (GPRS),enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), Mobitex, two-way paging(e.g., ReFlex), the Ardis network, satellite (e.g., TDM/TDMA X.25 VSATnetworks), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 MAN, hereby incorporated by reference),and networked AM, FM, high definition radio, TV and satellite radiobroadcast systems including any subsidiary communications multiplexoperation sub-carriers offered by any of the aforementioned systems.Dashboards having an FM radio receiver are particularly cost effective,with a cost in the range of tens of dollars or less. In preferredembodiments, the dashboard has an FM radio receiver that receivesdatacasting information through the Europe and RDS CENELEC standardand/or the North American RBDS NAB/EIA specification. As such, the homedashboard provides an economical way to get energy market informationinto consumers' homes without rewiring or electrical modification. RDSand RBDS is described in for example, Kopitz and Marks, 1999, RDS: TheRadio Data System, Artech House Publishers, Boston Mass., which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In other preferred embodiments, the dashboard has an In-Band On-Channel(IBOC) receiver for receiving datacasting information from digitalsignals that are broadcast as “sideband” transmissions bracketing thetop and bottom of a host analog radio signal in order to make optimalusage of the current spectrum allocations. As such, IBOC refers to amethod of transmitting a digital radio broadcast signal centered on thesame frequency as the AM or FM station's present frequency. For FMstations, the transmission of the digital signal occupies the sidebandsabove and below the center FM frequency (e.g., 97.9 MHz). AM bandtransmissions also place the digital signal in sidebands above and belowthe existing AM carrier frequency. By this means, the AM or FM stationdigital signal is transmitted in addition to the existing analog signal.One or both of the digital signal sidebands may carry UMC data to anIBOC receiver or transceiver, e.g., a receiver or transceiver embeddedwithin or otherwise associated with an appliance. Additional detailsregarding IBOC systems may be found, for example, in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/053,145, filed Feb. 5, 2005; Johnson, “TheStructure and Generation of Robust Waveforms for AM IN-Band On-ChannelDigital Broadcasting”, iBiquity Digital Corporation,http://www.ibiquity.com/technology/pdf/Waveforms_AM.pdf; and Peyla, “TheStructure and Generation of Robust Waveforms for FM IN-Band On-ChannelDigital Broadcasting”, iBiquity Digital Corporation,http://www.ibiquity.com/technology/pdf/Waveforms_FM.pdf, each of whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure for communicatingenergy management information to consumers are complimentary to newmetering technologies that measure residential energy usage in intervalsas frequently as every fifteen minutes or less. Such capability is adramatic improvement over the once per month frequency that utilitycompanies typically read meters and deliver bills to their customers.

Existing competitive approaches focus on tapping into an electricalmeter. A very small number of manufacturers provide remote displays, forexample, Ampy Automation Ltd. (Peterborough, England) that provide payas you go metering. Such pay as you go approaches tell the customer howmuch longer their power will be on, based on prepaid power bills. On theother hand, in the present disclosure, the inventive dashboard receivesand uses real time price information delivery, a scrolling stock tickerstyle display for example, with a warning like and easy to understandgraphical symbols to make customers aware of time when energy use shouldbe minimized However, in some embodiments, in addition to such voluntaryactivity, pay as you go pricing can be implemented. In some embodiments,the inventive units are simple as one flashing light with a symbol. Oneembodiment that is particularly useful for gauging demand responsebefore an electrical meter is changed includes a prominent button (e.g.a big red button) for the home operator to press when they haveresponded to a power consumption request from a utility. This responsecan be used by utility companies to gauge the value of changing themeter at that residence so that it has time of use (TOU) and criticalpeak pricing (CPP) capabilities. In some embodiments, the dashboardincludes text messaging and text messages are used to reinforce theoperators' power conservation behavior. For example, if a critical peakpricing message is broadcasted to the inventive device, the energycustomer can respond to the message by conserving power. In embodimentsin which the device monitors total power usage to the dwelling, the usercan push a button on the device and get a “thank you” message as well asan estimate of their wattage reduction on the display. Such powerconservation information can be stored and used by energy suppliers todetermine which of their contract offerings gives the customer thelowest energy price based on the customers response data. Suchinformation can also be used to determine whether it is worth the costto replace the electrical meter with a newer digital interval meter.

In other embodiments, an end user-depressible button feature, describedabove, can be used to gauge a consumer's responsiveness to gridmanagement requests. In some embodiments, such responsiveness is gaugedby how quickly grid management message requests are acknowledged ratherthan how quickly power management decisions are executed aftermanagement request dissemination. Such acknowledgements can be made inresponse to a grid management request by instructing the consumer topress the “red button.” Of course, the color, size, type and othercharacteristics of such a “button” can vary without departing from thescope of the present disclosure. The “red button” of the presentdisclosure is any mechanism or device that allows for a utility customerto acknowledge receipt of a grid management message request or alert.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure appeal to human psychologicalfactors in order to achieve direct association of energy conservationbehavior and energy grid needs. For example, in some embodiments, asymbol set for home energy consumption levels as well as energy gridenergy status are used. The symbol and the rate at which the symbol isflashed on the novel dashboard indicate the immediacy of any need tochange energy consumption levels. For example, the faster the flashingof a light on the dashboard, the more important the need is to conserveenergy. Thus, the inventive system features a datacast utility gridinformation using lights, symbols and text so that energy consumers havean awareness of power grid load at all times. This increases the benefitas grids continue to decentralize their generation resources and includenew biomass, wind and solar resources wherever need or interestdictates.

In California there are predictions of 60,000 generating sites by 2010.This number of active small generators can't be actively managed usingtoday's technologies. Forecasting works well for predictable weathersituations, but does little when failure of large transmission lines orgeneration plants occurs. In high grid stress and overload situationsduring peaks and with failures, the only option available is to reducethe consumption of millions of small users, which takes a communicationsystem able to deliver a message directly at the load itself, at homenear appliances and at the office near lights and computers.

The inventive devices can further be used to take advantage of certainalternative energy programs. For example, consider an environment wherewind power and/or other sources of renewable energy are provided. Inorder to have this wind power energy (or other source of renewableenergy) used as a resource, incentive schemes can be used. Suchincentives can be, for example, in the form of energy contracts for windenergy in which a customer would agree to pay a premium of, for exampleone or two cents per kWh for all of their consumption, and in turn theutility would contract development of the wind energy resource. However,in conventional systems, people paying such a premium for such windpower would have no idea when wind power is available. Further, becausewind power is not available all the times, such consumers would not knowif their power was coming from wind turbines or somewhere else. Thismeans that customers can't “vote with their power habits” as to whatkind of energy they want to use. They must sign onto whatever programstheir energy suppliers offer. The net effect is their consumptionpatterns don't change, either in the short term or long term. Thecustomers have no information by which choices can be made. They onlypay the contract price for power. The inventive devices can be used toprovide information about the current availability of such power. Assuch, consumers can have control over the cost of their energy as wellas the source of the energy they use.

Currently consumers have limited price incentive to manage their use ofelectricity as there is no price differential or way to measureconsumption at different time periods. To address this problem, manyutility organizations have proposed the use of smart meters that willbill customers for the use of power based on rates that can fluctuate ona daily basis or some other time interval, such as an hourly basis. Theproblem with such smart meters is that they do not provide a convenientmechanism by which to inform customers of current power rates. Thepresent disclosure addresses this need by providing such a device. Theinventive device can be integrated into major appliance in the home andused as a basis for regulating the times when such devices operate, howfrequently they operate, and how much power they consume when theyoperate. In addition the inventive device can be implemented as abattery operated standalone device that provides rate information in theform of a symbolic light system, an alphanumeric or graphical display(e.g., an LCD display), audible sounds, or other methods ofcommunication.

In other embodiments, a load shedding system according to the presentdisclosure has the following characteristics: (i) a decentralizedarchitecture that reduces the chances of complete system level breakdown arising from the failure of a single system component; (ii)voluntary load shedding; (iii) use of low cost receiver technology thatcan be readily integrated directly into load shedding amenableappliances; and (iv) use of low cost base station transmitter technologyemploying a licensed frequency spectrum having comprehensive coverageand with enough transmit diversity to prevent multipath distortioneffects. Because of the use of low cost transmitter and receivertechnology, such a system has the advantage of not requiring on-premiseinfrastructure equipment or cabling;

In other embodiments, a decentralized system load sheds appliances inaccordance with consumer lifestyle choices. For example, each appliancecan have its own integrated RDS/RBDS or IBOC wireless receiver capableof independent receipt of real time utility tariffs, standards-basedclock time, and grid status information broadcasted directly from a widearea network (e.g. using a network of FM radio stations that broadcastsubsidiary communications multiplex operation sub-carriers). In someembodiments, each such appliance is configured to use such informationin an autonomous manner. No local intercommunication among residentialappliances is necessary in such embodiments. In some embodiments, alocal area network (e.g. Zigbee) is optionally used to facilitateinter-appliance communication. Such communication can be used to providean aggregate load shedding response that improves overall load sheddingperformance. However, even in embodiments where inter-appliancecommunication is possible in order to produce an aggregate load sheddingresponse, each appliance is capable of independent load-sheddingdecisions when the local area network is not present or otherwisefunctioning improperly. This feature is advantageous because it preventsthe failure of any one component of the system from causing the entiresystem to fail.

In some embodiments, each appliance is user programmable and is capableof storing user configuration data (e.g., using non-volatile memory).Programmable features in such appliances include the ability todetermine how power tariff and grid status information is to be used. Inthe case of a thermostat regulated appliance, for example, temperatureset points are programmable to meet consumer oriented goals (e.g.,personal comfort, etc.) as opposed to power provider based goals.

In optional embodiments, when there is a contractual agreement in placebetween the utility provider and the utility consumer, load shedding atthe appliance level can be placed directly under control of the utilityprovider during well-defined power grid conditions (e.g. impendingrolling blackouts) as specified by the contract.

In a preferred embodiment, an energy management system includes a seriesof IBOC or FM sub-carrier RDS/RBDS radio transmitters eachinterconnected to a corresponding on-site utilities message server thatis also connected to the Internet and operable to extract tariff andtime reference information from remote servers connected to theInternet. Radio receivers directly embedded within appliances areoperable to receive such IBOC or RDS/RBDS modulated tariff data. Loadshedding is then performed based on consumer programming and powertariff rates in force. In some embodiments, a man machine interface(MMI) operable to accept user program input controls the appliance'sload shed characteristics commensurate with tariff rates in force. Inoptional embodiments, appliances are equipped with a user activatedoverride feature that permits the bypass of load shed operation.

Once skilled in the art will appreciate that while the systems andmethods of the present disclosure are described herein in detail withregard to particular appliances, e.g., a heating ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) thermostat, numerous other particular embodimentsare possible and intended to be within the scope of the disclosure.

One aspect of the present disclosure comprises a message outputtingdevice, an FM radio receiver, where the FM radio receiver is configuredto obtain utility operator data provided by an FM subcarrier channel,and a processor in electrical communication with the FM radio receiverand the message outputting device. The processor is configured toprocess the utility operator data and communicate a message in theutility operator data via the message outputting device. In someembodiments, the message includes text, an alarm, a sound, an audiblemessage, an audible instruction, or a song. In some embodiments themessage outputting device comprises a plurality of lights. In someembodiments, the message outputting device comprises a display capableof displaying alphanumeric characters. In some embodiments, the messageoutputting device comprises a speaker. In some embodiments, theapparatus is an air conditioner, or heater regulated by a thermostat, aclothes dryer, a refrigerator, a freezer, or a dishwasher. In someembodiments, the utility operator data comprises data concerning a poweroutage, and the utility operator data is coded for a predetermined groupof customers and includes an estimated time to restore power. In someembodiments, the utility operator data is a grid status or an energytariff. In some embodiments, the utility operator data is customerrelationship data. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprisesa memory in electrical communication with the processor, where thememory stores a key that represents a geographical position of theapparatus, and where the key is used by the processor to select from theutility operator data that information for display using the messageoutputting device which corresponds to the geographical position. Insome embodiments, the apparatus further comprises an input interface inelectrical communication with the processor, where the key is programmedinto the apparatus using the input interface. In some embodiments, thekey is determined using one or more properties of an FM signal receivedby the FM radio receiver. In some embodiments the FM radio receiver is ahigh definition radio receiver. In some embodiments, the utilityoperator data is in the form of IBOC or RDS/RBDS modulated electricalgrid tariff data. In some embodiments, the utility operator data iselectrical grid data. In some embodiments, the utility operator dataoriginates from a water utility, an electrical utility, a gas utility, agarbage pickup service, or a hazardous waste pickup service. In someembodiments, the apparatus further comprises a memory in electricalcommunication with the processor, where the memory stores a key thatrepresents a geographical position of the system, and where the key isused by the processor to select from the utility operator data thatinformation for display using the message outputting device whichcorresponds to the geographical position, and the utility operator dataoriginates from a water utility, an electrical utility, a gas utility, agarbage pickup service, or a hazardous waste pickup service. In someembodiments, the apparatus further comprises a transceiver in electricalcommunication with the processor, where the transceiver is configured tocommunicate the utility operator data to one or more appliances in ahome or a business via a local area network that interconnects the oneor more appliances. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprisesan input interface in electrical communication with the processor forreceiving instructions from a user on whether to alter usage of theapparatus after the message in the utility operator data has beendisplayed via the message outputting device. In some embodiments, theapparatus is an air conditioner, or heater regulated by a thermostat, aclothes dryer, a refrigerator, a freezer, or a dishwasher.

4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates an energy-related system in which the displays of thepresent disclosure have application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display in accordance with various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a radio receiver present in a display in accordancewith various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates the block structure of an RDS subcarrier signal inaccordance with the prior art.

FIG. 5 illustrates an energy management system in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a transmitter site in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embeddable utility message channel (UMC) receiverin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a thermostat having a wireless receiver in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a temperature controller loop typically implementedwithin a residential HVAC thermostat.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of facilitating load shedding using energytariff information in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an energy information and load shed system in usewith a clothes dryer in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates an energy grid hierarchy in accordance with the art.

FIG. 13 illustrates a generic IBOC or RDS/RBDS transceiver according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates an IBOC or RDS/RBDS transceiver front end withshared lower level components in an accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates a meter transceiver in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a backhaul gateway for communicating messages fromtransceivers over various networks in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates an advanced meter infrastructure topology inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides a novel display for use in a dwelling toobtain information about an energy-related system. This information isused to voluntarily initiation power consumption programs during timesof need, thereby alleviating the need for more drastic measures such asrolling blackouts.

5.1 Exemplary Energy-related System

Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical energy generation, distribution,routing, storing and/or consumption system (“energy-related system”) 1can be thought of as including four types of components. First, thereare one or more energy producers 2 that are capable of producingelectrical power. The energy producers 2 can include, for example, agenerator set (or “genset”) 3 formed by an electric generator/alternatorthat is driven by internal combustion engines as shown in FIG. 1. Also,the energy producers 2 can include, for example, generators driven by avariety of other driving mechanisms such as steam turbines, coal, waterflow or wind, as well as alternate electricity-producing devices such asnuclear generators, fuel cells, or solar cells or energy harvestingdevices (e.g. windmills, piezo-generators, photo-voltaic farms, etc.) oraerobic and anaerobic digesters such as can be coupled to powergenerators. Often, the energy producers 2 depend upon one or moreadditional components to produce the electrical energy, which can betermed energy production enablers 4. The energy production enablers 4can include any of a variety of components or other systems that enablethe energy producers 2 to produce electrical energy, for example, apiping system 5 for delivering combustible natural gas or other fuel tothe genset 3 as shown in FIG. 1. Other exemplary energy productionenablers 4 can include, for example, systems for producing steam to beused by steam turbines such as coal-heated boiler systems and nuclearreactor systems, or hydrogen generators or reformers for fuel cells, orsystems for controlling water flow, wind, or solar energy that isprovided to the energy producers 2.

Electrical energy that is produced by the energy producers 2 is in turndistributed to one or more energy consumers 6 by way of one or moreenergy transporters 8. As shown, any given energy consumer 6 can be madeup of a plurality of energy consumer subcomponents 7, albeit any givenenergy consumer can also simply be a single component that requireselectricity. The energy consumers 6 are representative of any device(s)that can require electrical power, including, for example, machinery atmanufacturing plants and other commercial loads, consumer appliances andother residential loads, refueling sites for electric vehicles, and avariety of other loads. The energy transporters 8 are representative ofany intermediary device(s) that are employed to communicate or controlthe flow of power from one or more of the energy producers 2 to one ormore of the energy consumers 6 including, for example, high and/or lowvoltage power distribution lines 9 and related devices such as switchingcircuits/circuit breakers and transformers.

FIG. 1 shows, by way of a plurality of arrows 17, generally the flow ofenergy and energy-carrying materials (as well as possibly othersubstances) among the energy producers, production enablers, consumersand transporters 2, 4, 6 and 8. Namely, the energy production enablers 4supply energy and materials to the energy producers 2 that are requiredfor the energy producers to generate electrical energy, the energyproducers 2 in turn provide electrical energy to the energy transporters8, and the energy transporters in turn communicate electrical energy tothe energy consumers 6. Although not shown, in some circumstances, theflow of energy, materials and/or other substances can also flow in otherdirections among the energy producers, production enablers, consumersand transporters 2, 4, 6, and 8. For example, in some cases, one or moreof the energy transporters 8 can supply energy to one or more of theenergy production enablers 4 to keep those components operating, or oneor more of the energy consumers 6 might supply energy to the energyproducers 2 in cases where those energy consumers switch from an energyconsumption mode to an energy generation mode (e.g., where the energyconsumers are capable of switching between operation as a motor and as agenerator, switching between the charging and discharging of a capacitorbank, or switching between the charging and discharging of a fuel cellfor local and distributed energy storage and supply).

FIG. 1 is intended to provide, in a schematic form, a genericrepresentation of components of a generalized electrical energy-relatedsystem. Although examples of the energy producers 2, production enablers4, consumers 6 and transporters 8 are discussed above and shown in FIG.1, the present disclosure is intended to apply generally to any givenenergy-related system having any combination of one or more energyproducers, one or more energy production enablers, one or more energyconsumers and/or one or more energy transporters. Additionally, thepresent disclosure is intended to apply generally to other types ofenergy-related systems as well that include one or more energyproducers, production enablers, consumers and/or transporters, forexample, a hydraulic energy-related system, a heat-based energy-relatedsystem and other possible energy-related (or power-related) systems.Further, the present disclosure is intended to be applicable toenergy-related systems of a variety of scopes, such as an internationalpower system, a regional power grid, a subdivision or plant system, andeven to systems that are similar to or related to energy-relatedsystems, such as a water distribution system.

Typically, an energy-related system will have at least one energyproducer 2, at least one energy consumer 6, and at least one energytransporter 8, if not also at least one energy production enabler 4.Nevertheless, the present disclosure is still intended to be applicableto energy-related systems that lack some of these components. Forexample, energy transporters might not be required in systems in whichthe producers are directly coupled to the consumers. Also, in somesystems, it would not be necessary to consider the impact of energyproduction enablers (e.g., where a water-flow driven generator is drivenby an uncontrolled water flow source such as a river). Further, whilethe energy producers 2, production enablers 4, consumers 6 andtransporters 8 can be representative of overall devices that produce,support the production of, consume and/or transport energy, they alsocan be representative of subcomponents of such devices including, forexample, actuatable machines, sensors, communication devices, andinput/output devices, as well as groupings of such devices.

Additionally, whether a given device is properly included as (or as partof) an energy producer 2, production enabler 4, consumer 6 ortransporter 8 is to some extent an arbitrary determination. For example,a step-down voltage transformer near or at a residence might beconsidered to be an energy transporter (or a subcomponent of an energytransporter) or alternately as an energy consumer (or a subcomponentthereof). Indeed, an entire network of distribution lines and energyconsumers interconnected by those lines could be viewed together asconstituting a higher-level energy consumer rather than as an assemblageof energy transporters and energy consumers. Further, in somecircumstances a given device can operate as more than one type ofcomponent. For example, a device could at different times operate as amotor and as a generator and thus constitute both an energy producer andan energy consumer. Consequently, the energy-related system 1 of FIG. 1is intended to be generally representative of any energy generation,distribution and/or consumption system having one or more of any of avariety of different types of energy producers, energy productionenablers, energy consumers and energy transporters.

5.2 Exemplary Device

Reference will now be made to FIG. 2, which shows an exemplary display200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Oneskilled in the art will appreciate that, while the following examplesare described as employing RDS/RBDS broadcast signals and receivers,IBOC or other transmission systems may be used.

In typical embodiments, display 200 is a battery operated RDS orsubsidiary communications authorization (SCA) radio receiver thatincludes a minimal number of symbols (e.g., symbols 202 through 206), anoptional text message output 208, and an optional compliance button 210.In one embodiment in accordance with FIG. 2, symbol 202 is lit when thepower grid is experiencing overloaded conditions. In some embodiments,symbol 202 is a red filter and, accordingly, symbol 202 lights up in redwhen activated. In some embodiments, symbol 202 will flash with anintensity that is proportional to a function of the extent to which thepower grid is overloaded. Symbol 204 represents a cautionary symbol thatis lit in cases where the power grid is not yet overloaded but is indanger of becoming overloaded. In typical embodiments, symbol 204 is ayellow filter and, therefore, the symbol lights up in yellow whenactivated. Symbol 206 represents an “all clear” symbol that is lit incases where the power grid is well within capacity. In typicalembodiments, symbol 206 is a green filter and, therefore, lights up ingreen when activated. Thus, in the dashboard illustrated in FIG. 2,light 202, 204, or 206 is lit at any given time.

In some embodiments, symbols 202 through 206 do not represent theoverall power grid. For example, in some embodiments, they represent theavailability of a particular energy source such as solar power or windenergy. So for example, in such an embodiment, symbol 202 is lit whenthe energy source is not available, symbol 204 is lit when the energysource is only partially available, and symbol 206 is lit when theenergy source is fully available. In this way, display 200 can enable autility customer to effectively participate in an alternative energyprogram. Text display 208 is used to display messages to the utilitycustomer. For instance, the text messages can be used to relay powerrate information, details on a particular power emergency (e.g., thedegree to which the grid is overloaded), progress in restoring powerafter a storm or other forms of power outage information, or scheduledpower outage information. In some embodiments, display 208 is an 8 to 16character alphanumeric display. In other embodiments, display 208supports between 8 and 100 characters. In still other embodiments,display 208 is a graphical display.

Display 200 is typically battery operated and can be placed anywhere ina dwelling. For instance, in some embodiments, display 200 can bemounted on a wall in the same manner as a central air thermostat. Anadvantage of display 200 is that no hard wiring is required. Allinformation used by display 200 is relayed to the display by radiowaves, such as RBDS, RDS, or SCA radio waves. As such, display 200 canbe placed anywhere in a dwelling that has suitable radio reception. Forinstance display 200 can be placed on a table, a window sill, a nightstand, on a shelf, or as mentioned above, mounted on a wall.

In some embodiments, optional button 210 is pressed by a user when theyhave complied with an emergency request to reduce power consumption. Inresponse, display 200 stores the response and, in some instancesdisplays a thank you message on display 208. In some embodiments display200 is wired such that it knows the current power usage rate in thehome. Thus, in some embodiments, display 200 can track how responsive autility customer is to emergency power situations. For example, in onesuch embodiment, when a user presses button 210, display 200 computesthe reduction in current power usage from a time before the user reducedpower consumption and a time after the user reduced power consumption.Available power rate information is then used to convert this powerreduction into a net savings in power consumption. Typically suchsavings in power consumption is expressed on display 208 as either atotal net saving or as a net savings over a unit of time (e.g., netsavings per hour, net savings per day, etc.). Alternatively, rather thandisplaying a net savings, display 208 displays the current utilityconsumption cost per unit of time (e.g., minute, hour, day, month, year,etc.). In this way, a user can monitor display 200 in order to see theeffectiveness of power consumption efforts underway in the dwelling.

In another embodiment, button 210 is used as a demand response receiver.In such embodiments, when a utility wishes provide for demand response(DR) energy reductions based on a DR from their consumer customers, suchcustomers are signaled via UMC datacast to display 200. Display 200flashes the appropriate symbol (e.g., symbol 202) and delivers a textmessage instruction for the consumer customer to follow (e.g., turn offunused lights and push button 210). When the customer sees light 202 andresponds by pushbutton 210 and turning off lights, then the consumer isprompted to identify how much power they turned off (e.g., 100, 200watts), and that information is logged in by display 200 for lateranalysis by the energy provider in order to determine if it isworthwhile to invest in an interval meter for that customer.

In other embodiments button feature 210 can be used to gauge aconsumer's commitment or interest to responding to grid managementrequest. In some embodiments, such commitment is inferred by how fastand how often the consumer acknowledges grid management messagerequests. In such embodiments, the speed at which a consumer makes ameasurable load shedding decision is not considered. Thus, for example,what is sought are consumers that acknowledge grid management requestson a frequent basis soon after such requests are transmitted, regardlessof whether the consumer actually makes any measurable load sheddingresponse to such messages. In some embodiments, such acknowledgement ismade by instructing the consumer to press button 210. An energy provideror other entity can use such a system to obtain information such as (a)whether a message is acknowledged, possibly within a certain expiryperiod after which the message is no longer displayed to the consumer,and/or (b) the consumer's acknowledge response time, or latency. Inother embodiments, a grid management request is sent to a consumer thatmust be acted on within a predefined time period. In such a case, whatis measured is how quickly a consumer presses button 210 relative to theevent time forecast. In some embodiments, to gauge a given consumer'scompliance threshold, test messages are sent. The time intervals(frequency) such test messages are sent as well as the trial durationover which such messages are sent is varied.

5.3 RDS and SCA Signal Algorithms

As noted in the preceding section, in some embodiments, electricalutility information is received by display 200 using an RDS, RBDS, orSCA receiver that is built into the display. Canada has a servicesimilar to SCA, referred to as SCMO. As used herein, all reference toSCA service refers interchangeably to SCMO as well as SCA service. Asused herein, an RDS signal refers to any signal that adheres to any RDSand/or any RBDS specification. In typical embodiments, display 200 is anRBDS receiver that does not require an amplifier or speaker because onlya data portion of the RDS signal is monitored by display 200. The RDSsignal is carried by an FM broadcast signal.

In an FM broadcast signal, there is the “main” carrier, for example100.1 MHz which, by itself, contains no information. The main stationinformation to be transmitted, for example a musical song, is thenfrequency modulated onto the main carrier. This can be monaural (mono)or stereo. If stereo is to be transmitted, then the stereo signal ismodulated onto the main carrier using a subcarrier modulation scheme.The RDS signal is modulated onto the main carrier using one suchsubcarrier. Standard FM receivers detect the stereo channels. To receivethe RDS information a special receiver that includes a demodulator isrequired. In addition to RDS, there exist subsidiary communicationsauthorization (SCA) channels. In some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, rather than using RDS, one of the SCA channels is used toconvey utility rate information and utility grid load information.

The SCA subcarriers include 67 kHz and 92 kHz although there are norestrictions on the subcarriers frequency other than technical limit orinterference considerations. To receive these SCA channels, an FMreceiver with a wideband IF and wideband audio output is required inorder to pass these subcarriers to the subcarrier demodulator circuit.

There are several types of subcarrier demodulator circuits, any of whichcan be found in a display 200 of the present disclosure. A phase lockedloop (PLL) circuit “locks” onto the subcarrier and the information FMmodulated onto the subcarrier is demodulated as the “error” signal fromthe PLL. An input filter is provided to pass only the subcarrier andmodulation of interest. Another type of demodulator accepts thesubcarrier and mixes the subcarrier with a local oscillator generatingan intermediate frequency, higher than the subcarrier, which is thenamplified and applied to a discriminator circuit. The discriminatorcircuit output will be the information modulated onto the subcarrier. Insome instances, the SCA subcarriers are limited as to the alloweddeviation of the main carrier. The limitation is ten percent (+/−7.5kHz).

Radio data service (RDS), is used by a significant percentage of the FMstations in North America. This data service is a slow speed data thatis used to identify the station, the artists name, song title, orpromotional information. It uses a subcarrier at 57 kHz and is normallyinjected at +/−2.5 kHz, but could be the entire subcarrier alloweddeviation. In addition to the data used by the station itself, there arenumerous other data frames that can be used for such applications aspaging, global positioning refinement data, and wide area local control.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a typical radio-datareceiver/decoder found in display 200. Ordinarily, the multiplex signalinput from the VHF/FM demodulator is fed into a stereo decoder withde-emphasis which provides the left and right sound program signals.However, in typical embodiments, display 200 does not provide such astereo services. Thus, in typical embodiments, display 200 does not havea stereo decoder. The block diagram illustrated in FIG. 3 describescircuitry that can be used to decode the RDS radio signal in order toobtain utility information for use by display 200. The block diagram inFIG. 3 assumes that the RDS signal is carried on 57 kHz subcarrier.However, the present disclosure is not so limited. Rather thanimplementing 57 kHz recovery in order to obtain the RDS signals, a 67kHz or 92 kHz recovery can be used to obtain data from the SCA channels.Furthermore, as different frequency SCA channels are developed, thepresent disclosure can be used to recover utility information from suchchannels as well.

In 1998, the National Radio Systems Committee approved a revised editionof the United States Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) Standard. TheNational Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) is jointly sponsored by theNational Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Consumer ElectronicsAssociation (CEA). Its purpose is to study and make recommendations fortechnical standards that relate to radio broadcasting and the receptionof radio broadcast signals.

The RDS signal is a low bit rate data stream transmitted on the 57 kHzsubcarrier of an FM radio signal. Its data rate is 1,187.5 bits persecond—though ten out of every twenty-six bits transmitted are errorcorrection codes used to combat signal distortions that occur in thetransmission path. Consequently, there is only about 730 bits per secondof usable data in an RDS signal.

The data in the RDS signal is transmitted in 104-bit groups, each ofwhich consists of four 26-bit blocks. Because 10 of the 26 bits in eachblock are used for error correction coding, there are 16 bits ofinformation in each block. The type of information included in eachblock is dependent on the group type. There are 32 different group types(0A, 0B, 1A . . . 15A and 15B). Certain types of information, such asthe Program Identification (PI) code used to identify the transmittingstation, are transmitted in every group type. FIG. 4 illustrates.

RDS has an ability to permit RDS radios to display call letters andsearch for stations based on their programming format. Special trafficannouncements can be transmitted to RDS radios, as well as emergencyalerts. The United States RBDS standard is based largely on the EuropeanRDS standard. The European RDS standard has been published by theEuropean Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) in1998.

The U.S. RBDS Standard includes an “open data application” feature. Thisfeature enables proprietary (or non-proprietary) communications systemsto be implemented via the RDS data stream. The data in these systems istransmitted in one or more of the blocks in the RDS data stream. Aspecial code, called the Application Identification (AID) Code istransmitted in Group Type 0A to identify the particular applicationbeing transmitted. Each different open data application has its own AIDcode.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, display 200 is adapted toreceive information having a specific predetermined AID code. Such codesare assigned by the National Radio Systems Committee and the EuropeanBroadcasting Union. AID codes that are assigned by the NRSC in theUnited States can also be used in Europe, and codes that are assigned bythe European Broadcasting Union in Europe can also be used in the UnitedStates. More information on RDBS can be found in The National RadioSystems Subcommittee, United States RBDS Standard, Apr. 9, 1998,Specification of the radio broadcast data system (RBDS), 2500 WilsonBoulevard, Arlington, Va., which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

5.4 Geographic Specific Data Delivery

A novel display for providing utility information has been described. Intypical embodiments such information is provided using a specialized FMradio receiver that demodulates an FM subcarrier channel in order toobtain the data. Such data is broadcasted using a conventional FMstation equipped to deliver such a subcarrier. An FM station canbroadcast such data over a large geographic region. In some instances,however, it is desirable to broadcast data to only a subset of theregion that is served by a given FM broadcasting station. For instance,in some embodiments, it is desirable to contact utility customers on aspecific feeder, or a specific substation. To address such a need, someembodiments of display 200 include a key that represents the geographicposition of the display. This key can be coded into display 200 in manydifferent ways. For example, when the unit is purchased, the geographiclocation of the dwelling where the display 200 will be located can beprogrammed into the display. This geographic location can be in the formof global position system coordinates. Alternatively, the radio receiverin the display 200 can be used to scan the FM frequency spectrum inorder to determine its location using patent pending technologydescribed in Wang et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/011,222,entitled “Systems and Methods for Geographic Positioning Using RadioSpectrum Signatures,” filed Dec. 13, 2004, hereinafter Wang et al.,which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In suchembodiments, the radio receiver in display 200 could be a radio signaldecoder such as the Microtune MT1390 FM module (Plano, Tex.). The MT1390is an audio and data FM reception tuner that can scan all availablefrequencies and allow for continuous reception of data from subcarrierssuch as Radio Data System (RDS). As The MT1390 chip can beelectronically tuned to any given frequency in the FM band throughinstructions sent to the chip by a microprocessor through an I2C port.The MT1390 chip reports signal strength at the FM frequency to which itis tuned. The MT1380 chip is designed to scan all available frequenciesto allow for continuous reception of data from information systems suchas Radio Data System (RDS).

As described in Wang et al., the radio signal decoder scans the FMfrequency spectrum and/or the AM frequency spectrum in order to measurea radio signature. In embodiments where the algorithms disclosed in Wanget al., are used to identify the geographical location of display 200,the display includes a memory and a microprocessor. The memory can berandom access memory (RAM). All or a portion of this RAM can be onboard, for example, an FPGA or ASIC. In some embodiments, the RAM isexternal to the microprocessor. Alternatively, the memory is SDRAM,DDR-SDRAM and/or RDRAM available to a digital signal processor (DSP) ora FPGA that has an embedded memory controller. In some embodiments, thememory is some combination of on-board RAM and external RAM. In someembodiments the memory includes a read only memory (ROM) component and aRAM component. Such memory includes software modules and data structuresthat are used by the microprocessor to implement the method of Wang etal. Such software modules are described in Wang et al.

Regardless of what method is used to code display 200 with thegeographical position or other relative position within anenergy-related system described in Section 5.1, such information is usedto parse the information received on the subcarrier channel received bythe display and to only use and display the utility information that isintended for dwellings in the geographical region in which the display200 is situated. In some embodiments, the geographical position of thedisplay 200 acts as a key to decrypt the subcarrier data. Failure of thekey to decrypt the subcarrier data means that the data was not intendedto the geographic region in which the display 200 is situated.

The aforementioned functionality can be used in a blackout situation.For example, blackout information can be coded, for example bygeography, and information related to estimated time to restore power tothe customers corresponding to that code can be delivered. In someembodiments, the granularity of such information can be varied asdesired, e.g., house to house, or by collection of houses, street,block, neighborhood, town, city, county, etc.

5.5 Encryption

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, information that isbroadcasted to displays 200 is encrypted. In such embodiments, display200 decrypts such messages. The advantage of such encryption is that itensures privacy of messages provided by the utility company and itprevents hacking of the system. Suitable encryption algorithms aredisclosed in, for example, Schneier, Applied Cryptography: Protocols,Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition, 1996, John Wiley &Sons, Inc.; Ferguson and Schneier, Practical Cryptography, 2003, WileyPublishing Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.; Hershey, Cryptography Demystified,2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc; Held & Held, Learn EncryptionTechniques with BASIC and C++, 1999, Wordware Publishing, Inc., PlanTexas; Singh, The Code Book: The Science and Secrecy from Ancient Egyptto Quantum Cryptography, 1999, Random House, Inc., New York; Mao, ModernCryptography: Theory and Practice, HP Invent, Palo Alto, Calif.; Menezeset al., Handbook of Applied Cryptography, 1996, CRC Press; Kaufman etal., Network Security Private Communication in a Public World, 1995,Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, N.J.; and Binstock and Rex,Practical Algorithms for Programmers, 1995, Chapter 3, Addison-Wesley,Reading, Mass., each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety. Suitable encryption techniques include, but are not limitedto, public key encryption, secret key encryption, hash functions, theuse of digital signatures, and/or the use of digital certificates.

5.6 Exemplary Data Formats

Embodiments of the present disclosure in which geographically specificutility data is broadcasted to displays 200 have been provided. In someembodiments, such data is encoded with a 16-bit address. Such anaddressing scheme allows the FM broadcast region of a given FM stationto parceled into up to 65,000 different zones. Each zone can have agranularity in the energy-related system down to the feeder resolution.That is, a zone can be as small as all the dwellings connected to agiven feeder. Only the displays 200 that have a 16 bit key that matchesthe key in the broadcast message process the utility informationdisplayed with the key. In some embodiments, smaller sized keys areused. However, in such embodiments, techniques such as time slots can beused to increase the number zones that a given broadcast region can bedivided into. In such embodiments, each display 200 is assigned a keyand a particular time slot. Only those utility messages broadcast duringa permissible time slot with the correct key are processed by displays200.

In some embodiments, control signal to turn on lights 202, 204, and 206is coded as two bit value, where one of the four possible states of thetwo bit value is not used or, alternatively, is used to indicate aslowly blinking light 202 versus a rapidly blinking light 202.

5.7 Using Multiple Subcarriers to Transmit and Receive Utility Data

In practice, the displays 200 of the present disclosure receive utilityinformation from many different sources within the energy-relatedsystem. Typically, such information is uploaded to any of a number of FMstations that provide subcarrier services (e.g., RDS or IBOC services).The uploaded messages are then broadcasted over the subcarrier services.The utility messages that are broadcasted are not all alike. They rangeanywhere from emergency information pertaining to an impending orcurrent blackout to routine noncritical advertisements or rateinformation. Because of the wide range of types of messages and thenumber of different utility providers that may want to transmit suchinformation, it is possible for a given subcarrier service to becomeoverloaded in terms of the amount of data that is must transmit. Toaddress this problem, one embodiment of the present disclosure providesan expected or minimum Quality of Service (QOS) each such utilitymessage requires. This QOS can be defined any number of ways, includingbut not limited to latency, throughput, jitter, and reliability. Thisminimum expected QOS information contained within the uploaded data forsubcarrier transmission can be used by a subcarrier to prioritize theuploaded data for transmission.

In some embodiments, there is a negotiation sequence in which a utilityprovider will query a subcarrier service in order to determine QOSconditions. If such conditions at a given subcarrier service do not meetthe minimum QOS requirements, then the utility provider can poll othersubcarrier services for their present QOS conditions until asatisfactory subcarrier is found. In this way, QOS information can beused as a basis to select the subcarrier broadcasting station orplurality of subcarrier broadcasting stations that are used to broadcastany given utility data. Messages that are more urgent will have a higherminimum QOS and will be broadcasted on a subcarrier at a higher priorityand/or on subcarriers that, in general, have been determined to be morereliable and/or have less of a load during the relevant broadcastingtime periods.

In general each “real time” utility information disseminationapplication can have different QOS requirements. Some applications, infact, may be able to dynamically adapt to channel congestion, forexample, in the manner described in the preceding paragraph. In someembodiments, “real time” logical channel(s) within the RDS/RBDS systemare defined. Such a definition permits predictable (e.g. expected valuewith bounded uncertainty) QOS performance in delivering messages to adisplay 200. On the subcarrier transmitter side, messages are routedaccording to QOS attributes. In some embodiments, the subcarrier messageserver (e.g., RDS message server) has different queues with differentpriorities, and therefore different effective QOS.

In some embodiments, the utility messages to be transmitted oversubcarrier services have expiration times. Such expiration times detailthe date and/or time by which the corresponding messages should beterminated. In some embodiments, such messages further includeinstructions on what to do in the event the message has not beentransmitted on the subcarrier prior to the expiration date of themessage. In some embodiments, the subcarrier message server has aprotocol in place to communicate back to the message source (e.g., autility company) in order to report on expired messages, actual messagedelivery time, QOS, etc.

As described above, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide asystem to coordinate transmissions across more than one sub-carrierfrequency while respecting QOS attributes. In some embodimentssubcarrier servicing of such utility messages coexists with native radiostation traffic. This can be accomplished using the subcarrier of agiven FM broadcast station by time slicing the subcarrier channel intotwo or more classes of time segments. Once class of time segmentsservice traditional radio services (e.g. native radio station traffic)while the other class of time segments service utility messageapplications. The utility message time slice assignments can becoordinated in time so that in servicing a geographic region thetransmissions between two or more subsets of transmitters do notoverlap. In this manner, a receiver of a display 200 can hop todifferent subcarriers in a defined manner to increase the “real time”logical channel bandwidth. The utility message time slice assignmentscan also be coordinated in time so that the transmissions within eachtransmitter subset transmit within the same time to mitigate coverageproblems due to multipath, shadowing etc.

In embodiments where multiple subcarriers are used, the subcarrierreceiver of display 200 needs to have the capability of polling morethan one FM frequency in order to receive signals from each of themultiple subcarriers. In some embodiments this is implemented by givingthe subcarrier receiver in display 200 advance notice as to whichfrequency it should use to receive utility information. In oneimplementation of such an embodiment, an expiration date is assigned toODA group 3A AID channel assignments. The receiver is then given aminimum advance notice when (or if) the AID is to be assigned todifferent a Group Type. In another implementation of such an embodiment,display 200 has a multi-carrier receiver architecture such that thereceiver can listen to more than one sub-carrier simultaneously. Instill another implementation of such an embodiment, the receiver indisplay 200 has a frequency hopping mechanism that allows it to listenacross multiple subcarriers in order to extract a “real time” logicalchannel from a plurality of subcarriers. This latter embodiment hasadvantages in terms of security because the utility messages aretransmitted split across multiple subcarrier frequencies, making it moredifficult to tamper with the messages.

5.8 Additional Embodiments and Advantages

For the millions of small customers, which are the main contributors tothe well known utility grid evening energy peak, it is increasinglydifficult to reach a large population of customers in a specific areathat is impacted by the constraints of the electrical grid, due tosegmentation of media markets, satellite based broadcasting, etc. Thefundamental problem of reaching millions of small energy users thatcombine to create one big peak in energy use in the evening has been aproblem with no solution—and getting worse. In seeking a technology andinfrastructure that would meet the needs of customers served in specificareas, the typical approaches would be cellular radio, radio pagingsystems, television, radio and satellite broadcasting, as well as theinternet. To be of most use to electrical grid operations, a locationbased service with <100 km radius and non-connection based linkseliminates all the technologies in the infrastructure list except pagingand datacasting technology. In the event that wireless internet servicesbegin location based services, this approach will be useful on thatinfrastructure as well.

A significant challenge with reaching millions of small customers (e.g.,residential utility customers) is economics—the total cost of pricingprograms for utilities and independent market operators (IMO's).Electrical marketers are going the direction of time of use (TOU) andcritical peak pricing (CPP). CPP's are intended to be used by the marketabout a dozen times per year, and existing technologies would generallyrequire either maintaining a centralized database of appliance IPaddresses or actively polling an internet CPP/Tariff server byappliances. Neither of these approaches allows for broadcasts or“pushing” of data for comprehensive real-time delivery of information.Moreover, both TOU and CPP generally require the replacement of theelectrical meter at each residence—a substantial cost requiring trainedpersonnel and associated limitations to roll the system out. This isbecause customers can't install it themselves, an electrician isrequired.

The systems and methods proposed herein have the advantage of providinga continuous on line and dedicated way of getting utility and energyinformation directly to utility customers. The customer does not have togo looking for the information. This dedicated channel can ensuredelivery of actionable information at the actual loadlocation—appliances, etc., without the need for wiring or trainedinstallers. In embodiments in which display 200 is fed current utilityuse data, some wiring is required to provide such data. However, not allembodiments of display 200 provide such a service and in embodimentsthat do not monitor utility usage information, no wiring is required.Energy information can also be delivered to specific geographicareas—limited, for example, by the radio station coverage and geographicresolution within such radio station coverage using the technologydescribed in Wang et al. This geographic resolution is well matched togrid coverage.

Another advantage of the present disclosure is the messaging from gridoperation centers and individual energy providers. They only need tospecify which messages are to be delivered to a specific area, and noconnection between the broadcaster and receiver is negotiated(connectionless service). The display 200 only needs to be in thedesired broadcast/datacast area. The utility customer is then able toreceive “grid side” data as well as, in some embodiments, in home datafrom their meter. In some embodiments, display 200 stores and playscanned messages that are particularly useful in reinforcing demandresponse behavior. An additional benefit of such canned, orpre-programmed, messages is that it reduces communication bandwidthrequirements and source coding demands to convey commonly utilizedmessages. Moreover, with a dedicated display 200 capable of receivingpertinent utility messages, the grid/market operator can effectivelycommunicate with utility customers where and when it matters the most.

One of the advantages of the present disclosure is the fact that noregulatory approval is required to implement the systems and methods ofthe present disclosure. Utilities tend to move slowly in adopting newprocedures, in part because such decisions to undertake programs need tobe well analyzed before execution so that the requirements of regulatoryapproval are met. This makes it difficult to get any new technologiesand approaches into the utility grid, even though new ways of operatingare needed. For any new system to move into use quickly, it will need toavoid such regulation. Thus, one advantage of the present inventivesystems and methods is that they involve FM datacasting for which thereis no restriction on sending out public information. In fact muchinformation on grid operation is already publicly available. Forexample, the data provided in Section 5.9 was obtained from the AlbertaElectric System Operator in Alberta, Canada on its home page URL(www.aeso.ca). Such information can be datacasted via existing RBDS. Thepresent disclosure addresses the challenge of how to get suchinformation in front of people and their appliances, where and when itmatters most. To get public information in the right place requires adifferent format of FM digital receiver one that receives the RBDSinformation and then displays it to the operator of the appliance,before the appliance is used. Because the new receiver does not controlthe appliance directly, no electrical safety approvals will be requiredand there is no liability associated with the display device as thehuman operator is still “in the loop.” In some embodiments, display 200is built into appliances within the household that require significantamounts of electricity, such as refrigerators, dryers, hot waterheaters, central air conditioning, central heating, central vacuuming,etc.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure further have theoperational benefit of random turnoff times that would avoid stepchanges to the load on the electrical grid when high numbers ofcustomers respond to UMC signals. Furthermore, the FM receiver withindisplays 200 can be battery supported for long periods, so the receivercan be used without contributing to the grid problem, and also can beused in the event of extended power outage to communicate with customersin their homes. No Internet addressing requirements are required, makingthe unit easy to install and operate, as no setup would be required. Insome embodiments display 200 is battery operated but includes anelectrical cord so that the display 200 can be powered by a standardelectrical outlet. In such embodiments, the battery serves as backuppower during periods of power outage. RDS or other transmitterspreferably include batteries or other power backup systems.

5.9 Exemplary Utility Information Data

Utility companies often publish information relating to current utilityload on the Internet. Advantageously, in the systems and methods of thepresent disclosure, such information can be broadcasted using FMsubcarrier channels such as RDS to displays 200. Such information caninclude a description of overall utility load, or the currentavailability of alternative electrical energy supplies. For example, theAlberta Electric System Operator (AESO) in Calgary, Canada, publishesthe following data on the overall status of the electric grid operatedby AESO. All values are listed in megawatts. In Table 1, the total netenergy generated by AESO is compared with internal demand and loadresponsibility. In Table 1, the abbreviation DCR means dispatched (andaccepted) contingency reserve.

TABLE 1 Utility information for the AESO electric grid on Mar. 7, 2005Alberta Total Net Generation 7993 Interchange 15 Alberta Internal Demand7978 Alberta Load Responsibility 7262 Contingency Reserve Required 498Dispatched Contingency Reserve (DCR) 502 Dispatched ContingencyReserve-Gen 345 Dispatched Contingency Reserve-Other 157

In addition to overall electric grid properties, AESO publishes statusof energy generation from specific types of resources such as wind(Table 2) and hydroelectric power (Table 3). Such information can becommunicated using the systems and methods of the present disclosure todisplays 200 so that utility customers can make informed decisions onwhen to use power. Typically, such users would postpone energy consumingtasks to those points in time when more renewable energy resources werebeing using to generate power (e.g., wind and hydroelectric power asopposed to coal and gas). In Tables 2 and 3, the term MCR means maximumcontinuous rating, and the term TNG means total net generation. Allvalues are listed in megawatts.

TABLE 2 Utility information for AESO wind generators on Mar. 7, 2005WIND AND OTHER UNIT MCR TNG DCR APF Athabasca 99 52 0 Castle River #1 4037 0 Cowley Ridge 38 33 0 Drayton Valley 11 0 0 Grande Prairie EcoPower25 6 0 McBride Lake Windfarm 75 70 0 Summerview 68.4 62 0 Suncor Magrath30 29 0 Westlock 17.5 0 0 Whitecourt Power 25 23 0

TABLE 3 Utility information for AESO hydroelectric generators on Mar. 7,2005 HYDRO UNIT MCR TNG DCR Bighorn Hydro 120 34 10 Bow River Hydro 319165 26 Brazeau Hydro 350 43 128 CUPC Oldman River 32 7 0 Chin Chute 11 00 Irrican Hydro 7 0 0 Raymond Reservoir 18 0 0 Taylor Hydro 12 0 0

5.10 Additional Features

In some embodiments, display 200 is a dedicated human interface systemrather than a direct controller. However, in some embodiments, display200 provides either digital outputs or wireless connections that localappliances can use if they do not have a display 200. Advantageously, noaddressing scheme is required to implement such embodiments, onlyreception of a UMC signal for that geographic area, although geolocationbased schemes can be used as they become available on the Internet orother means described above.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, display 200 and thesubcarrier network used to deliver information to a network of suchdisplays has any combination of the following features. Messages fromutility operators in an FM radio network (e.g., water, electricity, gas,garbage pickup, hazardous waste pickup services) can be delivered. Suchmessages can be “canned” in displays 200, or delivered in real-time todisplays 200. The messages can be location dependent and delivery can beperformed by wireless datacast using FM subcarriers. Display 200 caninclude a software defined radio that allows receipt of messages toswitch receiving frequencies. Multiple datacast stations can be used inorder to provide frequency diversity and higher data capacity in theoverall system. Data capacity can be increased by adding datacaststations, which also increases reliability. Utility provider customerscan choose, and pay for, different data delivery priority andreliability levels (QOS) and the system of FM subcarrier transmitterscan manage the number of transmitting stations on a dynamic basis.Consumer customers can buy their own displays 200 with various features.Utility providers can purchase displays 200 and deliver to theircustomer base as part of a utility contract offering. Redundant datacasttransmitters can be used to provide significant system uptime usingexisting infrastructure. Such architecture is suitable for remotelocations and reduces the requirement for human operators at remotewater treatment/management facilities. Display 200 can include ascanning receiver that can sweep the FM bands to locate any datacast,and receive instruction to move to relevant frequency. Messages can bescrambled across frequencies and times to avoid jamming or tampering, inaddition to data encryption.

5.11 Receiver Types

A number of different embodiments of the radio receiver present indisplay 200 have been described. This section details various differentmodes offered by some embodiments of display 200. Some embodiments haveall or a portion of these modes.

In some embodiments, the FM radio receiver of display 200 includes anauto-scan mode in which the receiver auto-scans the FM band looking foran RDS datacast. When one is found, it can decode the data stream anddetermine if messages targeted for it are at that frequency or if itshould scan to another frequency. In some embodiments, this process isaided by the data stream indicating which frequency the receiver shouldgo to. Such a message can be termed a “directory” message. This dualprocess ensures timely message delivery, even in the event of a datacastfailure.

Simple pushbutton input of display 200 is used to allow users toindicate when they are responding to any of the messages displayed bythe UMC receiver. This input device can also be used for demand responseapplications, simple setup selections for cases where time referencesare available across time boundaries

An energy price ticker receiver mode is used when a utility seeksinformed customers. In such an embodiment, the receiver displays currentenergy price once a minute, or at the push of a wake-up button.

A critical utility status receiver mode in which only critical messagesand flashes associated with such symbol(s) are transmitted and/orprocessed by displays 200. Such a mode can be widely embedded in mostappliances due to its simplicity and associated low cost.

A home dashboard receiver mode that can receive messages from allunencrypted datacast services, plus allow coding for subscribedservices, receipt of downloadable symbols, as well as communication withhome energy meters and the identification of when a home has energypeaks that coincide with utility demand peaks. These circumstances canbe communicated with a symbol sets instead of graphs and charts. Such amode has the advantage of receiving utility side information (real timepricing and grid status) as well as information from the home itself.Thus information is obtained in real time and can be used to adjustenergy consumption patterns accordingly.

5.12 Provider Customer Service Classes

The present disclosure contemplates different classes of customerservice. In a critical timing, mass coverage, location coverage creationclass of service, all or many datacast frequencies are usedsimultaneously to ensure that messages get to all users in a given areathat is defined at the time the message is created (on the fly). Forexample, such message can convey critical price points (CPPs) forenergy, or alternately a grid reliability warning to all users to reduceuse or face outages. Further, critical weather warning—flash floods, damsafety warnings, tsunamis, etc., can be communicated. Such a service istypically used infrequently but requires mass coverage. Display 200,because of its ongoing use for other utility purposes, is well suited toprovide this emergency service and is best able to guarantee messagedelivery. Messages are generated by market operators, governmentagencies, etc. and delivered to FM radio stations that provide asubcarrier service. The network authenticates the user and message anddelivers over requested areas immediately

In a cyclical timing, coverage predefined, service, less immediatedelivery and less coverage is needed. Further, time delivery adheres toflexible constraints (e.g., minutes or hours after delivery to the FMsubcarrier). Energy providers use this service to message their“responder” customers. Responder customers are ones that can and willadjust their energy consumption at times chosen/needed by theenergy/utility provider in order to build demand response (DR) into theenergy market. This service is used on a daily basis or less often, andtypically uses precoded messages that are decoded by display 200.

A prescheduled timing, predefined coverage, service is used forscheduled events like lawn watering schedules, garbage collection, etc.This service has a relatively low cost and is used where schedules areknown well in advance and easily queued by the system. Such messages canbe preempted by higher priority messages.

5.13 Pilot System Test Procedures

To demonstrate the utility of the systems and methods of the presentdisclosure in facilitating demand response (DR) applications, and thelevel of DR in a given area, a pair of instrumented feeders with similardemographics is identified. One feeder is used as a control and theother is “stimulated” with utility messages delivered via display 200.There must be sufficient penetration of devices in that area such thatwhen the estimated 50% of people with displays 200 respond to a message,the response is measurable using the utility's existing feederinstruments. The minimum number of display units 200 down the line froma feeder instrument would roughly correspond to the minimum resolutionstep of the instrument—typically 0.25% of full scale value calculated inwatts (˜VA), divided by the estimated 100 W saved per UMC receiver, thendivided by the percentage of responders (0.5 for 50%). This is theminimum number of receivers that will show a measurable response on agiven feeder, and a measure by which a community could be credited forDR activity. Higher penetration of displays 200 will provide a bettermeasure of DR at any given location. Of course, any location with aninterval meter installed will be able to measure the response at thatlocation.

It is known from organizations researching energy bill information thatcustomers find them difficult to understand, much less respond to. Thesimple stimulus response approach of display 200 to flash a light to getattention, deliver a short text message instruction, wait for response,deliver a short recognition message, and an estimate of the money savedfrom the DR action will advantageously address the need of making apopulation more responsive to energy grid emergencies.

5.14 Appliance Load Shedding/Balancing Using Broadcast Tariff Data

One aspect of the present disclosure comprises a system and method forreliably and cost effectively disseminating power tariff informationdirectly from a tariff setting body to microcontrollers embedded inappliances (e.g., household appliances such as dishwashers and dryers).Such appliances, in turn, use this information to regulate applianceusage in a manner so as to minimize utility costs subject to anyconstraints needed to accommodate appliance user life style choices. Ina particular embodiment, such appliances provide the user with theability to encode such cost/convenience trade-offs through a suitableman machine interface (MMI). This is illustrated, for example, by way ofa programmable HVAC thermostat controller example disclosed below. Insome embodiments, the MMI allows for the temporary override of userprogrammed settings. Such a feature is desirable to have, for example,in clothes dryers. Nominally, the owner may have programmed theappliance to fully power the elements during low tariff times only.However, from time to time, an emergency may come up in which clothingneeds to be dried as soon as possible. In such instances, the overridecan be used to power the elements at full power, thus consuming moreenergy per unit time in order to satisfy the immediate needs of theuser. Such override flexibility is an important feature of the presentdisclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a utility message channel (UMC) system 300 fordisseminating utility information, at the appliance level, within ageographic region, is disclosed. UMC system 300 includes one or moretransmitters 310 that wirelessly broadcast tariff information directlyto receivers 322, 332, 342 embedded within energy consuming appliances320, 330, 340, respectively. In a preferred embodiment, each transmitter310 is operable to transmit information over one or more FM radio 57 KHzsub-carrier channels using the standards based RDS/RBDS datacastprotocol. Applicable RDS/RBDS systems and protocols may be found, forexample, in the following references, each of which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety: EIA/NAB National Radio SystemsCommittee: United States RBDS Standard, Apr. 9, 1998, Specification ofthe radio broadcast data system (RBDS); EIA/NAB National Radio SystemsCommittee: RBDS versus RDS—What are the differences and how canreceivers cope with both systems, January 1998; ISO/FDIS14819-1:2002(E), Traffic and Traveller Information (TTI)—TTI Messagesvisa Traffic Messages Coding—Part 1: Coding protocol for Radio DataSystem—Traffic Message Channel (RDS-TMC) using ALERT-C; ISO/FDIS14819-2:2002(E), Traffic and Traveller Information (TTI)—TTI Messagesvisa Traffic Messages Coding—Part 2: Event and information codes forRadio Data System—Traffic Message Channel (RDS-TMC); ISO/DIS14819-3:2001, Traffic and Traveler Information (TTI)—TTI Messages visaTraffic Messages Coding—Part 3: Location referencing for ALERT-C;ISO/DIS 14819-6:2004, Traffic and Traveler Information (TTI)—TTIMessages visa Traffic Messages Coding—Part 6: Encryption and conditionalaccess for the Radio Data System—Traffic Message Channel ALERT C coding;and prEN/ISO 14819-6:2002, Traffic and Traveler Information (TTI)—TTIMessages visa Traffic Messages Coding—Part 6: Encryption and conditionalaccess for the Radio Data System—Traffic Message Channel RDS-TMC ALERT Ccoding.

In other preferred embodiments, each transmitter 310 is operable totransmit data in digital sidebands of an AM or FM transmission using anIBOC digital broadcasting protocol. Additional information regardingapplicable IBOC systems may be found, for example, in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/053,145, filed Feb. 5, 2005; Johnson, “TheStructure and Generation of Robust Waveforms for AM IN-Band On-ChannelDigital Broadcasting”, iBiquity Digital Corporation,http://www.ibiquity.com/technology/pdf/Waveforms_AM.pdf; and Peyla, “TheStructure and Generation of Robust Waveforms for FM IN-Band On-ChannelDigital Broadcasting”, iBiquity Digital Corporation,http://www.ibiquity.com/technology/pdf/Waveforms_FM.pdf, each of whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, while system 200 of FIG. 5and related exemplary embodiments are described herein as employingRDS/RDBS and/or IBOC transmitters and signals, other networkedradio/data broadcast systems or wireless wide area network (WAN) systemscan be used (collectively termed herein “wide-area wirelesscommunication systems”). Such wide-area wireless communication systemsare capable of delivering tariff data directly to receivers embeddedwithin appliances, without reliance on additional local area networks orother communications infrastructure at the premises of the appliance.

Exemplary wide-area wireless communication systems employed withinembodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to:analog cellular (e.g., TIA 464B dual-tone multi-frequency, analogmodem), digital cellular such as cellular digital packet data (CDPD),general packet radio services (GPRS), enhanced data rates for GSMevolution (EDGE), Mobitex, two-way paging (e.g., ReFlex), the Ardisnetwork, satellite (e.g., TDM/TDMA X.25 VSAT networks), WiMAX (IEEE802.16 MAN, hereby incorporated by reference), and networked AM, FM,high definition radio, TV and satellite radio broadcast systemsincluding any subsidiary communications multiplex operation sub-carriersoffered by any of the aforementioned systems. Applicable systemspreferably exhibit all or at least some of the following properties: (i)wide area redundant coverage, (ii) non-line of site in-building signalpenetration, (iii) compliance with international/national standards,(iv) multicast/broadcast capability (e.g., data is pushed to more thanone appliance simultaneously), and (v) low operational and capital costsfor both the base station (e.g., transmitters 310) and receiverequipment (e.g., imbedded receivers 322, 332, and 342); (vi) lower powerreceiver operation; and (vii) operation in a licensed spectrum. Anadvantage of such systems is that no transmitters are required withinutility customer residences or buildings. As such, the systems andmethods of the present disclosure provide cost effective ways ofproviding voluntary programmable load shedding with individual utilitycustomers (e.g., residences), or better (e.g. appliance levelgranularity or aggregated appliance level granularity).

Referring again to FIG. 5, preferably a geographic region is covered bymore than one transmitter 310 each of which broadcasts on a differenttransmit frequency, e.g., within the 88 MHz to 108 MHz frequencyspectrum. Furthermore these transmitters are preferably located atgeographically disparate locations, and preferably communicate with eachother over a network interconnect 312.

The configuration illustrated in FIG. 5 affords two benefits. First,system 300 is reliable because of the use of redundant equipment. Forinstance, if one UMC transmitter is disabled, operation of the systemcontinues using other redundant UMC transmitters. System robustness isespecially enhanced in embodiments where the power and communicationinterconnects of such redundant equipment (e.g., redundant transmitters)are also independent from each other. Second, the use of redundantequipment (e.g., redundant UMC transmitters) provides transmit diversitythat prevents multipath distortion. It is well known that obstacleswithin the vicinity of a radio wave communication path often reflect thetransmit signal thereby giving rise to multipath distortion. Undersevere conditions, these reflected signals destructively add to resultin a deep fade of signal strength in the vicinity of intended receivers.Several methods are known to prevent such signal fades. In one suchmethod, identical information is broadcasted on separate channels usingdifferent wavelengths. This results in differentconstructive/destructive signal additions in the vicinity of thereceiver. A premise of such an approach is that, due to differences insignal wavelengths, it is much less likely that all frequency channelsignals will simultaneously experience a deep fade at the receiver'santenna. In a second approach, similar information is transmitted fromspatially disparate locations. In such an approach, two or more distinctand independent communication paths exist and will therefore likelyexhibit different fading characteristics. The probability of all signalsreceived from the different communication paths being in a deep fade ismuch less likely. Any such method for ensuring that a reliable signal isavailable to intended receivers can be used in the present disclosure.

Receivers 322, 332, and 342 do not necessarily require stored parametersor other a priori knowledge of UMC broadcast frequencies for the systemto function properly. For example, in one embodiment, receivers 322,332, and 342 include an auto scan background process that continuouslysearches for UMC broadcasts. Such a search method is provided in moredetail below. The UMC data is broadcasted on a logical channel within aphysical RDS/RBDS sub-carrier broadcast channel. The physical RDS/RBDSchannel typically includes many other logical channels used to conveydifferent types of information to different types of applications. Radioreceivers 322, 332, and 342 of FIG. 5, which are discussed in moredetailed with reference to FIG. 7, can be configured to filter out theUMC data for processing while ignoring all other data.

In some embodiments, UMC transmitters 310 broadcast informationincluding, for example, clock time reference data, tariff data,configuration data, and data regarding the interval time to a next UMCmessage. In some embodiments, clock time reference data includes, forexample, metrology grade universal time coordinated (UTC) or Greenwichmean time (GMT) clock time references. Tariff data can comprise aqualified power tariff data set expressing price per unit energyconsumed, including tariff data points qualifiers such as commencementand expiry time stamps with possible periodicity, applicablegeographical area, applicable electrical grid area or network, andinformation source (e.g., an energy marketer, load distribution center,independent market operator, and the like). Similarly, configurationdata can be qualified according to applicable geographical area,applicable electrical grid area or network, a unique receiver address,or a particular information source.

Not all information needs to be broadcasted in the same message or atthe same data rate in the configurations in accordance with the presentdisclosure. Moreover, not all tariff data point qualifiers are alwaysrequired. In many instances, for example, it is sufficient to qualify atariff according to a particular electrical network grid, and omit therelevant geographic area. In some instances, a particular sub-carriertransmitter has broadcast coverage that is completely enveloped bysingle supplier of energy with tariff prices independent of geographiclocation within that coverage area. In such instances, electrical grid,geographic area, and information source qualifiers are not required.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the broadcast dataincludes an “interval time to next UMC message” field or the like toinform a scanner 404 of receiver 402 of FIG. 7 when the next UMC messageon a particular sub-carrier is to take place. Such information enablesscanner 404 to search for UMC data on other sub-carriers without missingthe next message broadcast on known UMC channels. It is also permitsreceiver system 400 to enter a low power standby mode during times ofUMC inactivity.

Each radio transmitter 310 of FIG. 5 is further operable to schedule thetransmission of UMC messages at predefined future moments in time andpossibly at predefined rates periodic in time. Time scheduling issynchronized to a local real time clock which, in turn, is preferablyconditioned by a metrology grade time reference (e.g. network timeprotocol standards based time reference server or local globalpositioning system receiver).

Using the scheduling mechanism above, transmitters 310 are furtheroperable to coordinate their transmissions in time so as not to overlapwhen transmitting UMC information on different frequency channels. Thisfeature enables a low cost single carrier scanning receiver to extractUMC data from more than one sub-carrier without missing UMC data onother sub-carriers. In one embodiment, each transmitter is synchronizedto a metrology grade time reference such that local clock time referenceuncertainty of each transmitter does not exceed ½ of the shortestinterval between coordinated UMC broadcast messages.

In some embodiments, radio transmitters 310 of FIG. 5 are configured totransmit redundant information so as to achieve time diversity. It iswell known that identical information transmitted at different timeshelps prevent time varying signal fades due to motion of either thereceiver or objects within the vicinity of the communication path.

FIG. 6 provides a detailed block diagram of an example of transmittersystem 310 for delivering tariff information directly to the appliance.In one embodiment, tariff information originating from servers 354 ofrecognized authorities (e.g. independent marketer organization, OntarioEnergy Board, etc.) is made available to a UMC server (or UMS) 352 viaInternet 360. In one embodiment, off-site tariff server 354 is realizedas an XML or HTML web server preferably offering secure connectivity,for example, secure sockets layers (SSL), virtual private network (VPN),etc., and one or more redundant geographically disparate mirror sites toimprove UMC system fault tolerance.

In one embodiment UMC server 362 includes a computer with stored programcontrol, non-volatile memory, connectivity to the Internet, andconnectivity to RDS/RBDS modulator 364. Server 362 also includes orcommunicates with a local real time clock 368 and an encryption engine370. Typically, server 362 is battery backed and collocated with on-sitebattery backed FM broadcast equipment 366.

UMC server 362 of FIG. 6 is operable to periodically poll tariffserver(s) 354 in order to extract up-to-date tariff rate information. Invarying embodiments, this polled information is real time priceinformation that is valid immediately upon receipt, pricing informationthat is valid for a specific duration of time (e.g., at least oneminute, at least five minutes, at least one half hour, at least onehour, less than 24 hours, less than two days, between one day and aweek, two weeks or less, or a month or less) commencing at a future timepoint (e.g., in an hour, in a day, in a week, etc.), or cyclic in time.

UMC server 362 of FIG. 6 is also operable to extract, via internet 360,a nationally recognized metrology grade time reference source (e.g. atime reference provided by the United States National Institute ofStandards and Technology) from one or more time reference servers 352.In some embodiments, access to time reference servers 352 is made by theNetwork Time Protocol, RFC 1305, “Network Time Protocol (Version 3)Specification, Implementation,” which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. Alternatively, UMS 362 can extract a timereference from a co-located and interconnected GPS receiver (not shown).The extracted time reference data is used to condition the local realtime clock 368 to maintain UMC message scheduling accuracy. In varyingembodiments, local real time clock 368 is an integral part of UMS server362 or it is a separate peripheral device.

In some embodiments UMC server 362 is configured to store the URLs ofthe tariff and time reference servers 354, 352, respectively, andpossibly their mirror sites. In some embodiments UMC server 362 isconfigured to automatically select a tariff and time reference server352 that is “up” and available using Internet 360. Such selectionmethods are well known in the art.

Exemplary UMC receiver system 400, as shown in FIG. 7, provides anexample of a UMC receiver in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Receiver 400 includes an RDS/RBDS receiver 402, aradio scanner/processor 404, a UMC application filter 406, real timeclock 408, local oscillator 410, decryption engine 412, non-volatilememory 414, and application processor 416.

Radio scanner 404 is operable to digitally tune the single carrierRDS/RBDS receiver 402 to all possible sub-carrier frequencies within alicensed FM radio spectrum. Functionality of radio scanner 404 isdetailed later herein and in one embodiment is implemented as asubroutine that executes on appliance processor 416.

In some embodiments, RDS/RBDS radio receiver 402 is configured todemodulate and decode standards based RDS or RBDS datacasts originatingon a sub-carrier tuned by radio scanner 404. RDS/RBDS receiver 402includes a tuning circuit whose receive frequency is digitallycontrollable over the FM radio spectrum. The output of radio receiver402 is a stream of error corrected digital payload data similar to thatof the input data presented to the RDS/RBDS encoder and modulator 364 ofFIG. 6. In some embodiments, RDS/RBDS radio receiver 402 is configuredto indicate to radio scanner 404 the presence or absence of RDS/RBDSmodulated data on the currently tuned sub-carrier that is of sufficientsignal to noise ratio to permit reliable demodulation.

UMC application filter 406 is operable to continuously scan through thedecoded data originating from RDS/RBDS receiver 402 in search forutility message channel (UMC) data as identified by a unique open dataapplications (ODA) identifier as assigned by an applicable RDS/RBDSregulatory authority. In this exemplary embodiments, only UMC messagetypes are passed to application processor 416 for further processing. Insome embodiments, UMC application filter 406 functionality as detailedherein is implemented as a subroutine that executes on applianceprocessor 416.

Decryption engine 412 (FIG. 7) is operable to decrypt payload dataencrypted by encryption engine 370 (FIG. 6) of transmitter 310 using,for example, a secret private UMC key. The private UMC encryption key isknown by receiver 400 and stored within non-volatile memory 414.Preferably non-volatile memory 414, in which the private key is stored,and decryption engine 412, which uses the key, is implemented within thesame integrated circuit in order to prevent reverse engineering effortsto uncover the private key. In addition, in a preferred embodiment,decryption engine 412 and non-volatile key storage area 414 areimplemented at the integrated circuit level using reverse engineeringcountermeasures that are well known in the smart card industry.Preferably, decryption and encryption engines 412, 370, respectively,are capable of implementing robust private key encryption schemes suchas the advanced encryption standard (AES; e.g., the May 26, 2002,Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 197, The NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety) and the data encryption standard (DES; e.g.,the Jan. 22, 1988, Federal Information Processing Standards Publication46-2, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety) at encode levels inexcess of 64 bits.

Real time clock 408 is preferably implemented in hardware as a wellknown loadable counter preferably, although not necessarily, able toresolve time down to approximately a one second granularity. The localoscillator provides the counter clock, the required accuracy of which isa function of the worst case (e.g. longest) UMC message time referenceupdate interval and the required accuracy of the application.Preferably, the UMC message time reference update period is at leastonce every at most 1000 seconds. A real time clock error of one second,for example, would therefore necessitate the selection of a localoscillator with an absolute accuracy of 1 part per 1000 over the UMCreceiver's operating temperature and life expectancy. Low cost crystalsor crystal oscillators that meet these criteria are commerciallyavailable. In some embodiments, real time clock 408 counter is read fromand written to (e.g. loaded) using a microprocessor interface that iswell known in the industry. In some embodiments, the real time clockaccuracy is maintained by periodically loading the counter with updatedtime reference data received in a UMC message. In some embodiments, realtime clock 408 is a peripheral device integrated on the same die orwithin the same integrated chip package as application processor 416.

Application processor 416 is operable to interact with radio scanner404, UMC application filter 406, decryption engine 412, real time clock408, non-volatile memory 414, local RAM (not shown), man-machineinterface peripherals 418, and external digitized appliance sensors andactuators 420 using known microprocessor interfaces such as, forexample, synchronous serial interfaces. Exemplary interfaces include,but are not limited to, the serial peripheral interface (SPI) and I2C aswell as asynchronous communication interfaces using multiplexed Intel ordemultiplexed Motorola type address and data buses with chip select,address, and data strobes and read/write signals. In some embodiments,appliance application processor 416 is configured to extract timereference and tariff information from UMC messages, update real timeclock 408 according to received time reference data, and store receivedpower tariff information in either non-volatile memory 414 or localrandom access memory (not shown). In some embodiments, applicationprocessor 416 is configured to execute application code specific to theappliance within which it is embedded. This feature is exemplified bymeans of a HVAC thermostat embodiment disclosed below.

In some embodiments, appliance processor 416, via the external interfaceport, is operable to function as a slave device to an external host in amanner that is known in the art. With the exception of the encryptionkey identity, all data accessible to application processor 416 is madeavailable to an external host processor interconnected via such a port.In some embodiments, this port is realized as an SPI or I2C serialinterface. In some embodiments, appliance application processor 416,through embedded program code stored in non-volatile memory 414, alsoassumes the functionality of decryption engine 412, UMC applicationfilter 406, and/or radio scanner 404.

In some embodiments, radio scanner 404, RDS/RBDS radio receiver 402, UMCapplication filter 406, real time clock 408, decryption engine 412,non-volatile memory 414, and/or appliance application processor 416 areimplemented as an integrated circuit on a common substrate or, atminimum, within a common printed circuit board package.

In one embodiment, UMC receiver 400 employs a method of extracting UMCdata from FM sub-carrier transmissions. In step 1002 of the method,radio scanner 404 tunes RDS/RBDS receiver 402 to sequentially scanthrough all possible FM sub-carrier channels within the 87.6-107.9 MHzspectrum. The frequency, or channel number, of each detected sub-carrierhaving an acceptable signal to noise ratio (e.g., on the order of 10 dB)is placed in a list hereinafter referred to as the “sub-carrier list.”

In step 1004 of the method, each sub-carrier channel in the “sub-carrierlist” is automatically tuned-in for a predefined dwell time. During thisdwell time the RDS/RBDS data stream is continuously decoded by RDS/RBDSreceiver 402. In step 1006 of the method, each decoded group isautomatically monitored for the presence of a “UMC application ODA ID”by UMC application filter 406. If present, the UMC application data ispassed to application processor 416 where it is decrypted, if suchdecryption is needed, and the frequency, or channel number, andcorresponding update interval parameter value, if present, of eachsub-carrier that carriers the UMC message is placed in a “UMCsub-carrier list.” If the update interval parameter is present then theexpected receive time of the next message is computed and an interruptis scheduled for radio scanner 404 to tune to the current sub-carrier tolisten for the next UMC message at that time. If the local clock timediffers from the received reference time embedded within the UMC messageby more than the sum of the time reference uncertainty and path delayuncertainty bounds, then the local clock is updated to that of thereceived time reference. In addition, the decoded tariff informationwithin the UMC message is queued onto the “tariff list” for processingby application processor 416. Finally, upon power up, all interrupts arecleared, and if the “UMC sub-carrier list” exists, e.g., is stored innon-volatile memory from a previous powered state, then these channelsare scanned first for a period of time equal to the corresponding lastknown update interval. If more that one channel is stored, then the onewith the shortest update interval is tried first in some embodiments. Ifno time reference is found within the “UMC sub-carrier list” thenexecution commences at the beginning of step 1004.

Upon exhaustion of the sub-carrier list, the aforementioned steps arerepeated. In some embodiments, the aforementioned steps are repeatedindefinitely in a daisy chain manner In some embodiments, the UMC“application” is registered with the appropriate RDS/RBDS governing bodyand is assigned a unique ODA message field ID.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the above described methodof extracting UMC data from FM sub-carrier transmissions is exemplary,and variations or other suitable methods may be used without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. For instance, radiofrequencies other than FM can be used.

5.15 HVAC Thermostat Embodiment

FIG. 8 illustrates a thermostat in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure, in which application independent components 430 ofFIG. 7 are interconnected to a temperature sensor 510, relay actuators516, 518, and interface devices such as a keypad or touch screen 512 anddisplay unit 514. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of simple hystereticon/off HVAC controller 530 typically found in the home.

The present disclosure contemplates a simple modification to this systemis which temperature set point 532 is modulated by the tariff rate inforce as shown in FIG. 10. In a preferred embodiment when tariffs areknown a priori, during the summer season, the HVAC controller 530instructs air conditioner 540 to lower the room temperature somewhatbelow the nominal consumer defined comfort set point for a short periodof time just prior to the beginning of the higher power tariffs. In sodoing, additional heat is extracted from the house at a lower tariffrate in an effort to extend the time after which the air conditionermust be engaged in order to keep the temperature below the high tariffset point. At the time of higher energy rates the temperature set pointis raised slightly higher than the consumer defined comfort level for aperiod of time equal to the duration of the higher tariff rates.

For an electric heating system, the temperature set points are reversedduring the winter months. HVAC controller 500 instructs the electricheater to raise the room temperature somewhat above the nominal consumerdefined comfort set point for a short period of time just prior to thebeginning of the higher power tariffs. In so doing additional heat isadded to the house at a lower tariff rate in an effort to extend thetime after which the electric heater must be engaged in order to keepthe temperature above the high tariff set point. At the time of higherenergy rates the temperature set point is diminished slightly lower thanthe consumer defined comfort level for a period of time equal to theduration of the higher tariff rates. In some embodiments the high andlow tariff temperature set points for both the air conditioner andheater on either side of the low-to-high tariff transition are consumerconfigurable.

Referring to FIG. 5, enhanced thermostat 500 can be implemented byinterconnecting the “application independent components” 430 of FIG. 7with a keypad 512, display unit 514, temperature sensor 510, and twocontrol relays. One control relay (516) is for the air conditioner andthe other control relay (518) is for the electric heater. Keypad 512permits user set point programming and, in one embodiment, the abilityto override the tariff dependent temperature set point operation.Temperature sensor 510 senses the ambient temperature within thebuilding and presents a digitized representation to the applicationmicroprocessor embedded within the UMC receiver. The summation 534, lowpass filter 536, and hysteresis block 538 of FIG. 9 is implementedwithin application processor 416 in a manner that is known in the art.In other words, application processor 416 can be a customizedmicroprocessor that includes functionality for the aforementionedcomponents. In the summer months application processor 416 controls theair conditioner relay, and in the winter months application processor416 controls the electric heater.

In some embodiments, broadcast or “pushed” tariff information can beused in more sophisticated ways to yield a higher performance HVACthermostat. For example, temperature set point spread on either side ofa tariff change event can be modulated in near real-time by the tariffprice difference on either side of the event and/or the duration of thelow and high tariff rates in force.

5.16 Refrigerator and Freezer Embodiments

In some embodiments, load shed enhanced HVAC thermostat controller 500can be used to control refrigerator and/or freezer appliances. In suchembodiments, sensor 510 measures the temperature inside of therefrigerator or freezer cabinet, and air conditioner relay 516 controlsthe on/off state of the compressor. More sophisticated control schemesare also possible. For example, the freezer controller can employ amodel that predicts the culture times of common bacteria in food as afunction of temperature and time. With advanced notice of power tariffrates over a particular period of time, and optional knowledge of theconsumer's food consumption patterns, a power consumption profile can becomputed for that period of time that minimizes energy costs whileensuring that food does not spoil for the life expectancy, as specifiedby the consumer, of the frozen or refrigerated food. The powerconsumption profile can be further modulated by any number ofparameters. Such parameters optionally include any combination of thefollowing: the thermal properties of the storage cabinet, the degree towhich the cabinet is full of food, calculated as a function of mass, andthe frequency and duration with which the cabinet door is open.

5.17 Clothes Dryer Embodiment

Commercially available clothes dryers typically include three powerconsumption loads that can be decoupled from one another so as to beindependently controlled. The loads are the drum tumbler motor, the aircirculation fan, and the heating element. The drum tumbler serves twopurposes: one, to expose, on a algorithmic basis, the entire surface ofthe cloths to air to ensure uniform drying, and two, to stop clothesfrom wrinkling. Both the heater element and the fan serve to increasethe speed with which cloths are dried within the dryer. Typically, thetumbler motor and fan consume far less power than the heater element andare therefore of secondary consideration when considering ways to reducepower usage of a cloths dryer. To save money, the power tariff data canbe used to modulate the temperature set point within the dryer using thefollowing scheme. At low tariff rates, the temperature set point is setto a sufficiently high temperature that minimizes dry time whileensuring that the garment is not damaged from excessive heat. As thetariff rate increases, the temperature set point is reduced so as toreduce heater element power consumption thereby increasing the dryer'sreliance on the fan to dry the garments at the expense of increased drytime.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, illustrated in FIG. 11,an enhanced clothes dryer includes “application independent component”430 of FIG. 7 interconnected with a keypad 612, display 614, temperaturesensor 610, humidity sensor 611 and three control relays. Control relay616 is for the tumbler, control relay 618 is for fan, and control relay620 is for the heater element. Keypad 612 permits user temperature setpoint programming, and in one embodiment, the ability to override thetariff dependent temperature set point operation. Temperature sensor 610senses the temperature within the dryer and presents a digitizedrepresentation to the application microprocessor 416 embedded within theUMC receiver 400. The summation, low pass filter, and hysteresis blocksof FIG. 5 are implemented and interconnected within applicationprocessor 416 in a manner that is well known so as to realize thecontrol loop of FIG. 9.

Keypad 612 enables the consumer to select the clothes garment type andto start the dry cycle. Upon activation of the start button, applicationmicrocontroller 416 energize the fan and tumbler relays 616, 618, andthrough relay 610, permits the heater element to be activated by thetemperature control system. The heater element, via heater element relay620, is controlled by the temperature control loop that establishes andmaintains the set point temperature within the dryer. Applicationprocessor 416 is further operable to change the set point temperature isaccordance to energy tariffs in force. Energy tariff-to-temperature setpoint correspondence can be expressed as an analytic function orpresented in a lookup table. Application processor 416 is furtherconfigured to monitor air exhaust humidity levels via a digitizedhumidity sensor and terminate the dry cycle when the detected humiditylevel, possibly normalized to the tumbler ambient temperature, persistsbelow a predefined threshold level.

Referring to FIG. 12, a hierarchical addressing method 700 permitsenergy grid localization, rather than geographic localization, and henceaddressability with successively finer degrees of resolution. Smalleraddresses reference substations, expanded addresses reference feeders,and fully expanded addresses reference individual receivers. Such ahierarchical method can also be applicable in addressing consumersacross service provider boundaries from generators to load aggregators.Additional digits are required for successive levels. The number ofdigits or bits required to address at larger granularity aresuccessively increased. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 12, the smallestnumber of bits in a code address of a network, with successive increasesin required number of bits for substation, feeder, section, lateral, tapand load (or individual receiver).

In some embodiments, tariff information is delivered in a controlled orgraded manner to avoid the earlier described problem of power demandspikes that result from synchronized demand during utility-imposed loadshedding. For example pricing can be slowly ramped down over a “shoulderperiod” after a peak event to allow consumer loads with individual setpoints to come on at their level of cost/comfort preference. Also,tariff decent during the “shoulder period” can be randomized withrespect to electrical grid location. Finally, the appliance may employ arandom back-off algorithm to delay the activation of an appliance for arandom period of time following the cessation of a on-peak event.

5.18 Transceiver Embodiments

In some embodiments, transceivers may be used to receive UMC broadcastdata and to facilitate local two-way communication (e.g., via a PersonalArea Network or Local Area Network) among appliances or other hardwareapparatus located within a home or business. Such transceivers mayinclude some or all of the features and functionality of the UMCreceivers described above, e.g., UMC receivers 322, 332 and/or 342, withthe addition of a transmitter or other device for communicating withother elements in the local network.

One or more two-way local area transceivers may be employed, for examplealong with one or more wide-area receivers at each node in a network, inan Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) topology that also employs, forexample, automatic meter reading (AMR), demand response (DR), tamper andoutage detection, and customer relations management (CRM). The topologyemploys the local area two way/wide area one way transceiver along withdifferent uplink and downlink communication links.

Each transceiver preferably includes a receiver portion for receipt ofmulticast data in the downlink direction. Preferably, all nodes canreceive wide area data. The various nodes may be mesh networked vialocal two way communication to facilitate the collection andconsolidation of data over many neighboring homes. A mesh network is alocal area network (LAN) having a number of interconnected nodes, andmay employ a full mesh topology or partial mesh topology. In the fullmesh topology, each node (e.g., transceiver or other device) isconnected to each of the others. In the partial mesh topology, somenodes are connected to all the others, but some of the nodes areconnected only to those other nodes with which they exchange the mostdata.

The Personal area network portion of the transceiver operates in unusedFM radio station channels and transmits at power levels in accordancewith national regulatory limits for operation without a broadcastlicense. In keeping with cognitive radio concepts, the PAN systemdisclosed herein uses FM radio spectrum on a secondary basis: Thereceiver hardware dynamically and continuously monitors the FM spectrumfor unused channels. When found, these unused frequency channels areused to effect two way local communication among appliances equippedwith the PAN transceivers.

Referring to FIG. 13, an exemplary generic IBOC or RDS/RBDS transceiver1300 may include an IBOC or RDS/RBDS transmitter 1310 and an IBOC orRDS/RBDS receiver 1320 that communicate with a time division duplex(TDD) switch 1330, which may be computer controlled. An impedance match1340 may also be included, e.g., communicating with switch 1330 asshown. The transceivers described herein are preferably capable ofreceiving data broadcast directly from FM radio stations, as describedabove. The transceiver uses the same receiver for both local area andwide area data. Preferably, the UMC transceiver is capable of localtransmission and reception of RBDS/RDS formatted data, IBOC formatteddata, or data of other formats.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a front end of a transceiver 1400 withshared lower level components in accordance with another embodiment. Inparticular, transceiver 1400 includes a demodulator 1410 fordemodulating received IBOC or RDS/RBDS signals and a modulator 1420 formodulating data to be sent over a personal area or local area network toother devices, meters or nodes in a network. A TDD switch andbidirectional amplifier may be microprocessor controlled, and maycommunicate with a synthesized local oscillator 1450. A band pass filter1470 and impedance match 1480 may also be included.

Referring to FIG. 15, a UMC system 1500 employs one or more enhancedmeters 1502, including, for example, a utility meter 1510 for monitoringan amount of power utilized by a household or other location. The metersare preferably in communication with a transceiver 1520 to receivebroadcast UMC data from a radio transmitter 1530 (e.g., an IBOCtransmitter or an RDS/RBDS transmitter). The meter 1502 also preferablycommunicates with other in-premise hardware apparatus 1540 and/or otherutility meters 1550 within a personal area or local area network range.Data such as, for example, meter usage data may be aggregated betweenhomes or “nodes” in a local area network and uploaded at any desiredfrequency through a backhaul gateway 1560 to a provider or other entityover one or more of a variety of wide area networks.

An example of backhaul gateway 1560 is shown in more detail in FIG. 16.Gateway 1560 includes a transceiver for receiving data from one or morenodes over a PAN or LAN as described above, and transmitting the dataover one or more communications network technologies. An adaptiveinterface 1610 provides an interface to the various communicationsnetworks, which may include, for example, the internet 1620, PSTN 1630,paging networks 1640, satellite 1650 or cellular networks 1660.

Exemplary cellular communication protocols that may be used by uplinktransmitters presently include 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, 3.5G 3.75G and4G. However, the present disclosure contemplates future generations ofcellular communication protocols and devices of the present disclosurecan use all such communication protocols. Non-limiting exemplarycellular communication protocols are disclosed in Table 1.

TABLE 4 Exemplary communication protocols that may be employed in thepresent disclosure. Gen- Fre- eration quency Technology Emphasis Remarks1 800 NMT Circuit-switched Limited system MHz AMPS wireless analogcapacity and range Hicap voice. No data. little protection CDPD againstfraud Mobitex Data Tac 2 800 FDMA Circuit-switched More support 900 TDMA(IS- wireless digital for data 1900 136) voice and data communicationsMHz CDMA Better security and SMS enabled range GSM higher capacity iDEND-AMPS cdmaOne PDC CSD 2.5 1900 GPRS circuit-switched SMS and EMS MHzCDMA2000- wireless digital enabled range 1X voice + new packet- (1X MC)switched data HSCSD services. WiDEN GPRS is an “always EDGE on” airinterface to the Internet packet-switched 3 G 2 GHz WCDMA wireless voiceand SMS, EMS, CDMA2000- data services, MMS enabled 3X encryption, high-cdma2000 speed multi-media 1xEV-DO TD-SCDMA 3.5 HSDPA 3.75 HSUPA

As specified in table 4, some uplink transmitters in accordance with thepresent disclosure use 1G cellular communication protocols such asNordic mobile telephone (NMT), advanced mobile phone service (AMPS),Hicap by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, cellular digital packet data(CDPD), Mobitex, and DataTac.

Some transmitters in accordance with the present disclosure use 2Gcellular communication protocols such as frequency division multipleaccess (FDMA), time-division multiple access (TDMA), code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM),integrated digital enhanced network (iDen), digial AMPS (D-AMPS), codedivision multiple access one (CDMAone), personal digital cellular (PDC),and circuit switched data (CSD).

Some transmitters in accordance with the present disclosure use a 2.5Gcellular communication protocol such as general packet radio service(GPRS), high-speed circuit-switched data (HSCSD), and widebandintegrated dispatch enhanced network (WiDEN). GPRS is based on InternetProtocols and has a throughput of up to 40 kbit/s. GPRS provides dataservices such as color Internet browsing, e-mail, video streaming,multimedia messages and location-based services. Some transceivers inaccordance with the present disclosure use a 2.5G cellular communicationprotocol such as CDMA2000-1X. CDMA2000-1X enables operators withexisting IS-95 systems to double overall system capacity yielding uplinkspeeds up to 76.8 kbps and downlink speeds up to 153.6 kbps. CDMA2000 1Xsupports e-mail as well as access to the Internet and corporatenetworks. Some mobile devices 12 in accordance with the presentdisclosure use a 2.5G cellular communication protocol such as enhanceddata for GSM evolution (EDGE). EDGE provides 3G packet data throughputon GSM networks, and uses a modulation scheme to enable data throughputspeeds of up to 384 kbit/s using existing GSM infrastructures.

Some transmitters in accordance with the present disclosure use a 3Gcellular communication protocol such as wide band CDMA (WCDMA) orTD-SDCDMA. WCDMA has been designed for high-speed data services and moreparticularly, Internet-based packet-data offering up to 2 Mbps instationary or office environments, and up to 384 Kbps in wide area ormobile environments. WCDMA offer voices, data, motion-video and othermultimedia capabilities, and increases data transmission rates in GSMsystems by using CDMA instead of TDMA. See WCDMA for UMTS, Radio Accessfor Third Generation Mobile Communications, John Wiley & Sons, WestSussex, England, 2000, Holma and Toskala eds., which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. Some transmitters inaccordance with the present disclosure use a 3G cellular communicationprotocol such as CDMA2000-3X. CDMA2000-3x utilizes a pair of 3.75-MHzradio channels (e.g., 3×1.25 MHz) to achieve higher data rates. The 3xversion of CDMA2000 is sometimes referred to as Multi-Carrier or MC.Some mobile devices 12 in accordance with the present disclosure use a3G cellular communication protocol such as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. CDMA20001xEV-DO supports downlink (forward link) data rates up to 3.1 Mbit/s anduplink (reverse link) data rates up to 1.8 Mbit/s in a radio channeldedicated to carrying high-speed packet data. Some mobile devices 12 inaccordance with the present disclosure use a 3G cellular communicationprotocol over a Universal mobile telecommunication services (UMTS)network.

Some transmitters in accordance with the present disclosure use a 3.5Gcellular communication protocol such as High-Speed Downlink PacketAccess (HSDPA). HSDPA extends WCDMA in the same way that EV-DO extendsCDMA2000. It is an evolution of the WCDMA standard and is designed toincrease the available data rate by a factor of five or more. HSDPAdefines a new WCDMA channel, the high-speed downlink shared channel(HS-DSCH) that operates in a different way from existing W-CDMAchannels, but is only used for downlink communication to the mobile.

Some transmitters for wide area communication in accordance with thepresent disclosure use a 4G cellular communication protocol such asHSUPA. HSUPA stands for High Speed Uplink Packet Access and describes aprocedure for sending data through UMTS devices. HSUPA enablessymmetrical data communications such as voice over internet protocol(VoIP) and interactive multimedia by better data rates and shorterdelay. The suitable procedure for the receiving is HSDPA. Both HSUPA andHSDPA resemble each other technically and by the employment of specialmodulation procedures allow a higher extent of utilization of the netinfrastructure.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of an advanced meter infrastructuretopology, including a number of nodes 1710 and 1712, which maycorrespond to one or more residences, offices, buildings, locations, orother physical or logical entities. In this example, each node 1710includes appliances, e.g., washer 1720 and thermostat 1730, havingembedded transceivers for receiving broadcast UMC messages from a widearea transmitter, such as, for example, a wide area FM transmitter 1750.As described in more detail above, the broadcast signals may includedata such as power grid status, energy tariff information, and customerrelationship management (CRM) data, etc. and for two-way local areacommunication with other appliances and with meter 1502 of node 1710.Meters 1502 preferably each have transceivers that are capable ofreceiving data from appliances 1720, 1730 and transmitting appliance andmeter usage data, for example, between meters 1502 and to uplink gateway1560.

In a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 17, an Advanced MeterInfrastructure (AMI) topology 1700 employs a one or more two-way localarea transceivers embedded within appliances 1720, 1730, for example,and one or more wide-area receivers at each network node 1502 to effect,for example, automatic meter reading (AMR), demand response (DR), tamperand outage detection, and customer relations management (CRM). Thetopology employs the local area two way/wide area one way transceiveralong with different uplink and downlink communication links, asdescribed above.

In a particular example, a residential or commercial communicationnetwork can receive real time energy tariff and load control data fromutilities (i.e. ISOs, LDCs. Retailers etc.) and can facilitatecommunication among energy measurement (i.e. meter), display, and energyconsumption apparatus collocated within a building as well as backhaulgateways and other similar neighboring local area networks. In thisexample, a display may communicate with a meter 1502 and individualloads 1720, 1730 to reveal ongoing energy consumption data within thehome. Furthermore, the meter, as well as each load would receive realtime energy tariff data directly from the utilities, e.g., broadcastfrom wide area transmitter 1750. Meters 1502 could use this informationto minimize data storage requirements, e.g., ongoing energy consumptioncosts could be calculated in real time and stored in a singleaccumulation register within the meter. This feature would beparticularly useful in SPOT energy markets where energy pricescontinually change. The loads could use this information to reduceenergy consumption during high price periods, or grid stress.

In other embodiments, home automation systems may be used to facilitatecentralized control and monitoring of hardware apparatus (e.g. lighting)throughout the home. From time to time the embedded software with thehardware apparatus may need to be updated to fix bugs, enhanceperformance, or activate features. Two way local communication serves tointerconnect the hardware apparatus with a centralized control systemwhile wide area one-way communication facilitates the downloading ofembedded software from the manufacturer.

The topology 1700 of FIG. 17 has several advantages. One such advantageis that the local communication is able to relay wide area informationto individual nodes where wide area receipt may be otherwise impaired(e.g. due to shadowing or mutipath fading effects). Also, the samereceiver hardware and software components are used for both wide areaand local area communication. Advantages of this include a smallerfootprint for the transceivers in comparison to using a separatereceiver for each network function, less complexity of design that othernetworked systems. Also, local area two way connectivity facilitates theconsolidation of data across many homes.

This consolidation allows a single uplink to service a multitude ofhomes. Another advantage is that the AMI topology decouples uplink fromthe downlink to allow each to be optimized independently. For AMIapplications uplink data does not need to be transmitted in real time:uplink data may in fact be communicated with low priority duringoff-peak times. In contrast, the response time of the downlink data ispreferably as fast as possible, especially during times of grid stress,for example.

In a preferred embodiment, the transmitter at each node, e.g., withineach meter, relays information to the backhaul gateway in accordancewith RDS/RBDS or IBOC standards, with one caveat. Unlike traditionalRDS/RBDS or IBOC transmitters, the PAN transmitter only transmits on aneed be basis. In this manner the same FM frequency channel may beshared by many local transmitters. In other embodiments, one or moreother PAN or LAN wireless communication protocols may be used within andbetween nodes, for example, other radio frequency transmissions, 802.11,bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.

IBOC transmissions may include a number of primary and secondary logicalchannels that can be configured and are suitable to carry utilitymessage channel (UMC) data, much in the same way that such channels canbe used to deliver CRM data as described, for example, in U.S. patentapplication Serial No. In some embodiments, UMC receivers and/ortransceivers described herein may include multiple channels, e.g.,dual-channel transceivers. For example, multiple public channels andpublic broadcast information may be provided over RDS channels, andsubscribed services may be provided over IBOC channels and formats.

In some embodiments, the IBOC system does (due to its significantlyincreased transmission data rate as compared to RDS/RBDS) provide forwide area broadcast of individual “utility validated” daily energyconsumption data. IBOC systems may be beneficial, as it may not bepractical to use just RDS/RBDS channels for this purpose, as it wouldrequire the coordination of too many radio stations to deliver data tourban communities. The use of RDS/RBDS for rural coverage, however, is apossibility.

All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety and for all purposes to the same extent as if eachindividual publication or patent or patent application was specificallyand individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in itsentirety for all purposes.

When introducing elements of the present invention or the embodiment(s)thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to meanthat there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,”“including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and to mean thatthere may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

Many modifications and variations of this invention can be made withoutdeparting from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. The specific embodiments described herein areoffered by way of example only, and the invention is to be limited onlyby the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled.

What is claimed:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a message outputtingdevice; an FM radio receiver, wherein said FM radio receiver isconfigured to obtain utility operator data provided by an FM subcarrierchannel; a processor in electrical communication with said FM radioreceiver and said message outputting device, wherein said processor isconfigured to process said utility operator data and communicate amessage in said utility operator data via said message outputtingdevice; and an input interface in electrical communication with saidprocessor for receiving instructions from a user on whether to alterusage of said apparatus after the message in said utility operator datahas been displayed via said message outputting device.
 2. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein said message includes text, an alarm, a sound, anaudible message, an audible instruction, or a song.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein said message outputting device comprises a plurality oflights.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said message outputtingdevice comprises a display capable of displaying alphanumericcharacters.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said message outputtingdevice comprises a speaker.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theapparatus is an air conditioner, a heater, a clothes dryer, arefrigerator, a freezer, a dishwasher, or a hot water heater.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said utility operator data comprises dataconcerning a power outage, and wherein said utility operator data iscoded for a predetermined group of customers and includes an estimatedtime to restore power.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the utilityoperator data is a grid status or an energy tariff.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the utility operator data is customer relationshipdata.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a memory inelectrical communication with said processor, wherein said memory storesa key that represents a geographical position of said apparatus, anetwork associated with said apparatus, a sub-station associated withsaid address, a section associated with said apparatus, a lateralassociated with said apparatus, or a tap associated with said apparatus,wherein said key is used by said processor to select from said utilityoperator data information for display using said message outputtingdevice which corresponds to said geographical position, said network,said sub-station, said section, said lateral, or said tap.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, the apparatus further comprising an inputinterface in electrical communication with said processor, wherein saidkey is programmed into said apparatus using said input interface. 12.The apparatus of claim 10, where said key is determined using one ormore properties of an FM signal received by the FM radio receiver. 13.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the FM radio receiver is a hybriddigital radio receiver.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein theutility operator data is in the form of IBOC or RDS/RBDS modulatedelectrical grid tariff data.
 15. The apparatus of 1, wherein the utilityoperator data is electrical grid data.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the utility operator data originates from a water utility, anelectrical utility, a gas utility, a garbage pickup service, or ahazardous waste pickup service.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a memory in electrical communication with said processor,wherein said memory stores a key that represents a geographical positionof said apparatus, wherein said key is used by said processor to selectfrom said utility operator data that information for display using saidmessage outputting device which corresponds to said geographicalposition, and the utility operator data originates from a water utility,an electrical utility, a gas utility, a garbage pickup service, or ahazardous waste pickup service.
 18. The apparatus of claim 1, theapparatus further comprising a transceiver in electrical communicationwith the processor, wherein the transceiver is configured to communicatethe utility operator data to one or more appliances in a home or abusiness via a local area network that interconnects the one or moreappliances.
 19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is anair conditioner, a heater, a thermostat, a clothes dryer, arefrigerator, a freezer, a dishwasher, or a hot water heater.